Draw a circle, there's the elemental countries!
by Ashimnotatree
Summary: What if some of the countries knew about and visited the elemental countries before Naruto was born? What if some things changed during their visit? Join Naruto and the Jinchuriki as they go through their journey, but they may be slightly different... BEING REWRITTEN
1. It begins

**Hey. So guys, I'm a new writer on fanfiction and couldn't resist the challenge that tobi tobi is a god boy left. But I'm sorry I changed things around a bit cos I am seriously depressed about how there are no real decent Hetalia and Naruto crossovers out there. I have always loved the idea of the countries actually being involved in the Elemental countries and so when I found the challenge, I sort of picked up the idea and ran away with it. So, sorry if this isn't what you wanted tobi tobi is a god boy!**

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><p>Once in the elemental countries, nine visitors from faraway came to visit. Five blondes, two brunets, a black haired man and a tall platinum blonde. It is the final man and his actions that are significant right now, though the others will play big parts later on. He came from a place of the far North and upon hearing of the consistently good weather and warmth in Hi no Kuni; the country so famous for its sunflowers, decided to visit the first and greatest of shinobi villages, Konoha.<p>

Upon arrival, he was assigned with an ANBU guard by name of Wolf, a beautiful woman with a personality as fiery as her hair. He enjoyed conversing with her and when he was finally taken off probation he was able to meet her face to face and discovered her true nature as the only Uzumaki in Konoha. One thing lead to another and when the appointed time for leaving came, the man departed unaware of the events he and his companions had set in motion.

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><p><strong>Nine months later, in a country far away from the elemental countries<strong>

Russia zoned out in the middle of Germany yelling at the other countries for wasting time in the World Meeting again, he'd heard it before so it wasn't that important. There was a strange feeling coiling around both his heart (at least, he thought that was what it was) and a tugging sensation pulling at his mind in the general direction of where he knew the elemental countries to be. It felt almost as if something had been added to him and that confused him because he knew that his country had not taken over any countries nor did it plan to.

Germany called on some random nation to make their point; from the sounds of it, it might actually be productive for once. The presentation and speech of the nation faded into the background as he stared at the table, unseeing and confused at the warmth inside of him. What was this feeling? He knew he had felt something similar to it before, though nowhere near as strong… He withdrew into himself trying to work it out.

He jumped slightly when a hand landed on his shoulder and turned to glare at the nation stupid enough to interrupt him whilst thinking only to blink in surprise to see emerald green eyes staring right back at him. "Are you alright? The meeting finished almost ten minutes ago and you haven't even moved."

Russia blinked at England uncomprehendingly, the meeting was over? That couldn't be possible. He was sure that they still had several hours to go, then again; meditation was known for making you lose track of time. Looking around he could see the meeting room was in fact empty. He realised England was still waiting for an answer.

"I am fine. I was just thinking." He responded shortly. England gave him a disbelieving look, before sighing.

"Russia, it's obvious to that something's wrong. You didn't even bother the Baltic States today. So, what happened?"

Russia paused, unsure how to phrase it or even why he was telling England of all people what was going on but felt for some reason that he really needed to unload. "This morning, a strange feeling came over me. It felt really warm and there was a sort of pull on my mind pointing to, well you know…" England nodded encouragingly, signalling him to continue.

"And it was confusing. I didn't really understand what was happening but I liked the feeling, it made me feel more complete. Like something had been missing and then given to me without me having or threaten or invade anyone. Then later on, I felt a strong protective urge come over me. Like someone put something of mine in serious danger and I needed to save it…"

England looked mildly disturbed but mostly concerned. "I'm sorry Russia but I really don't have a clue what's happening but I do remember the others who visited that place mention similar feelings and I admit I've been feeling faint stirrings of anticipation and excitement at random intervals myself. Like something special is coming and I should be looking for it. Maybe we'll get our answers in the next few years."

Russia nodded in agreement. That sounded like the most plausible course of action but he was still confused on one point. "But England," the island nation gave him a questioning look, "Why are you so concerned about me?"

"I don't know, it's been weird though. Recently I've been feeling more connected with you guys than before. I've even been noticing Canada and remembering who he is without prompting." Russia nodded in understanding, he'd been getting those feelings himself.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile in Konoha<strong>

"What should be done about it? I mean obviously it shouldn't be killed; it will make a perfect asset to this village in our time of need. So the question is, how soon should we start training our new wea-"

"Will you listen to yourself Homura? This is a child we are talking about and not an asset or a weapon! If this child's parents could hear you-"

"But they can't Sarutobi! And therein lies the issue! We don't have anyone to decide what the best thing to do for it is or whether we should kill it and be rid of that Goddamn demon once and for all or train it so it is a valuable weapon for Konoha…"

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><p><strong>In the meeting room<strong>

Russia felt a surge of anger and possessiveness and let out a low, animalistic growl, a dark expression spreading across his face. England flinched, feeling sorry for whoever had incurred the wrath of the large nation.

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><p><strong>Back in Konoha<strong>

"That is enough Danzo! As was pointed out earlier, this is a child and no doubt if you knew who his father was, you would deeply regret saying those words. He is not a forgiving man and if he knew about his child and what you wanted to do to him he would kill you as painfully as possible."

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><p>In a meeting room far away, Russia relaxed, confused as to where the feelings came from. Also, where the hell did England go?<p>

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><p>"You know who his father is? Why won't you tell us, unless you're making this up?"<p>

"I assure you, that isn't the case. However, I am afraid I can't divulge that information, until the father comes and discovers his son on his own. This is the order of the Daimyo; in fact all of the villages with these children have received these orders."

"Why would they make such an order? You must be lying; there is no logical reason for it."

"Don't make judgments in the absence of facts and knowledge!"

The small infant in the cot watched over by ANBU, blissfully unaware of the argument raging over his small head, slept quietly; a small frown on his face. There was something wrong; he could feel that, someone was missing. There was somewhere else he needed to be. He felt a small tug at the back of his mind, leading out the window he was near.

He opened his eyes and yawned, discontent before turning his face towards the direction of the faraway country he didn't even know existed. Feeling a surge of contentment at being closer, small violet eyes closed, silvery blonde bangs messily spread across the pillow, whilst the small innocent smile his father was so famous for, spread across his peaceful sleeping face.

Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was content for the moment. If only he knew how similar he would become to his father before being saved by the people he should consider enemies.

And deep within the infant's mindscape, the large, white nine-tailed ice demon smiled. Perhaps he could work with this child when needed. After all, it wasn't like the kid was completely human. He would make a good source of entertainment no doubt, especially with his parentage. And if he swung more towards his mother it was no big deal. You could always count on the ignorance of humans for some good old fashioned bloodshed.

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><p><strong>So yeah, sorry if you hate it. But I'm not writing for your satisfaction. I am writing because I enjoy it and want to get these ideas out of my head. This has changed quite a bit since I first decided to take this challenge. But all's well that ends well. At least I think so anyway. Yeah so you guys have probably worked out where I'm going with this. But I'll send virtual cookies to whoever can work out who the six countries mentioned at the start are. <strong>

**Anyway, so my apologies for making them so OOC but this is just how I feel they would act if they had kids with humans especially ones not from their countries. And in my head, because the nations aren't human, I think that they would totally have a weird connection that would mean they know something is endangering their child, or tell them roughly where their children are. And vice-versa, I think that the kids would instinctively feel a pull towards their parent's country and probably know the countries language and maybe history as well as having their tastes and abilities for certain things.**

**And yes, that does mean that England's kid will suck at cooking. Although I like British food and think that it's more that it's supposedly bland as opposed to it tastes bad. And just so you know, I'm changing the ages of the jinchuriki so that they are all roughly the same age. England's kid is going to be the youngest cause he's the 'gentleman' so he wouldn't rush things as much as the others would. So yeah, the flirtier countries are going to have older kids.**

**Naruto will be insane for a while but will calm down. I think the main reason Russia is so insane in Hetalia is because of A) he has one of the bloodiest histories in the world B) nobody really cared enough about him to help make him normal and caring again and C) I think that later on as he gets farther and farther from the soviet era, it becomes more something that activates when he's really angry. So Naruto will become good again after his friends help him work through it and he will eventually help Russia along with the other countries as they change their opinion. But that does mean he will be seriously protective of his 'precious people'.**

**Sorry but Naruto won't be going through crazy mode in this chapter, I was going to write that turning point this chapter and had almost a completely different story planned but then Sunday morning came and my mind created a completely unrelated idea and before I knew it I had created this. **

**For anyone who is interested, in the original story, naruto's parents were the same as the anime and Naruto went insane after his mum was killed in front of him with nothing he could do about it. And later he would meet Russia who would sympathize with him and take him under his wing and they would go off and be insane around the elemental countries or some shit like that. Overall, I like this one better.**

**I love writing nation dialogue but only as if they're real people. I mean come on people! I know they're personifications and all but they don't have to be stereotypical all the time! They do have to be their own people, which means that England wouldn't be prim and proper, France wouldn't perverted and America wouldn't be an idiot all the time! I don't know about the rest of you but it is majorly frustrating for me to have a decent plot for a story ruined because the author doesn't develop the countries as actual people. So for the record, the countries won't be exactly like they are in the anime because who really wants to read about characters that stay the same? And if you do, then you should stick to stories like Winnie the Pooh.**

**Just so you know, this is the **_**prologue**_** people. That means that the chapters themselves should be much longer, because I really enjoy reading stories that have decent length chapters. Also, if there is one thing that really annoys me, it is blatant bad spelling or over usage of text or computer language. I do people the courtesy of writing stories and messages in proper English; it would be appreciated if you could return the favour. **

**Sorry for the rant but I am from the United Kingdom which means that I was brought up to write and read like that. And before anybody thinks that it would be a good idea to use computer speak to leave a message you think I can't understand, I am very good at working out the bits of it I don't know. Whatever you say I will understand and probably send a sarcastic or insincere reply back to. Just covering all bases.**

**And this insanely long author's note shall be stopped before it's as long as the chapter itself. **

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><p><strong>EDIT: So, I'm going back through this story because every time I reread it it annoyed me. I'm going to edit the original chapters into ones I like better and that will hopefully fix up the various plot holes and inconsistencies that I was leaving everywhere when I wrote this at the time. There will be some pretty major changes, how the boys act, how Naruto gets Tak (for those of you that remember him), the fight scene with Zabuza and the ridiculous time lapse that I put in the next chapter. Seriously, nobody stares at their reflection for like eight hours straight. No matter how depressed they are. Also, I'm going to put character profiles onto my account profile and also make the other jinchuriki somewhat bigger characters. Oh man, just wait until we get to the time skip; I've got so many fun ideas that I can't really work in right now.<strong>


	2. The last straw

**So here we are again, I actually got this finished much earlier but decided to leave it for a while to check out the feedback. So like I said last chapter, I do apologise for the countries being OOC but this is my story and I'll tell it how I want damn it! **

**…And I am really doing nothing to dissuade the stereotype of British people swearing a lot. Fuck. This just isn't working for me. So much for acting mature like someone my age should be. Anyway, so no countries in the next few chapters, sorry if you're disappointed. But this is a Naruto-centric fic but they will turn up later. Right now, I really want to set out crazy!Naruto's personality and the way he interacts with the various characters. He will still want to be Hokage, although for slightly different reasons…**

**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine although I want what you're smoking if you think that anyone on Fan_Fiction_ owns what they write about…**

Naruto hummed happily, going to the playground. The glares directed at him and whispers behind his back were slightly upsetting but he wasn't going to let that get him down. After all, today was warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky! Although, that was what the weather was normally like, so why did he wake up surprised this morning like he had every morning for the four years he had been alive…

But that was unimportant because today was even more special than usual; it was the day the sunflowers he had been growing would bloom! Like every year, he had waited with bated breath to see if they would survive through the winter even though he knew intellectually that they would. Even though it snowed in the winter, it was never really, really cold like, like… like where?

Why did he feel as though it should be colder but was happy it wasn't? Why did it feel as though he wasn't meant to be here? Why did seeing green and feeling warmth in the spring and summer feel so wrong? Why was it so special to see sunflowers bloom healthily like they did everywhere at this time of year?

Naruto stopped, no longer feeling content. He hated these feelings. Why couldn't he just enjoy the warm sunny spring day without feeling like it was wrong or he was out of place? Seeing people staring at him, he reached up and subconsciously smoothed out his messy silver-blonde hair. He blinked his violet eyes and shook his head. No! He was going to enjoy today no matter what!

Smiling nervously he continued to the park, hoping to make a good impression. His plain white-pink t-shirt contrasting neatly with his khaki shorts and black sneakers. He never knew why he felt such an attraction to those colours, but wore them when he felt nervous, like he might get in a fight. Wearing them gave him a small feeling of confidence, like he knew what to do. He had a tan coat at home as well for cold or wet days.

Seeing the children playing some sort of game that seemed to consist of lots of running around, Naruto squared his shoulders and walked up to the children, delighted when they didn't run away from him though disheartened by their wary gazes.

"Um…May I play with you?" He asked timidly, scared of being rejected. He shrank slightly at the judging gazes of the other children, knowing that they were sizing him up.

"I…guess so." The oldest kid said slowly. Naruto felt his heart and spirits rise hopefully.

"But Taki! My mum said we weren't supposed to even talk to him!" They plummeted drastically. Disappointment and slight irritation at himself for hoping any different took their place.

"I know Aiko, but they never told us why. Maybe he's not so bad…" Naruto felt his eyes fill with surprise and hope, he was getting a chance! Maybe if he behaved and made a good enough impression, his auntie would be happy! Wait…Auntie? He didn't have any relatives. Where did that thought come from…

"Hey you with us there shorty?" Naruto looked up startled and nodded "Da!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, desperate to be included.

"Da?" The group exchanged confused glances with one another.

"Um, I mean yes!" Naruto explained, irritated with himself for still bursting out in the gibberish he had first learnt to talk in. At least Naruto was pretty sure it was gibberish, seeing as no-one else understood it. Even if he knew what it meant…

"Sweet! So here are the rules…" The older kid, Taki wasn't it, began to explain to him.

Nodding upon understanding, Naruto was shown who was catching everyone and prepared to run. "Three…Two…One…Start!" shouted Taki.

The kid immediately went for Naruto, he dodged quickly and sprinted away from the other child, trying not to go too fast. He looked back to see the kid blinking bemusedly at him before picking another child to target.

Eventually everyone had been caught apart from him, all of them trying to catch him. Naruto saw them running straight towards him and felt things slow down, a feeling of panic engulfed him and suddenly he wasn't in a playground anymore, but in a vast snowy landscape with tall man charging straight at him with large shining pieces of metal and oh god, were they going to kill him? He reacted without thinking, dodging with fair more speed, balance, agility and flexibility someone his age should have. He couldn't let them hit him, they would punish him for being weak and … he needed to show them he was strong!

He dodged and picked up the nearest available object, prepared to swing and … something heavy unexpectedly slammed straight into him.

He blinked and looked up at an angry adult face and turned to see terrified expressions of the children he had been playing with. Everyone around was staring and he looked over to see the foundations from one of the metal benches lying not far from his hands. He couldn't have ripped that out of the ground could he? No human could possibly be that strong right?

For a second he heard a dark chuckle deep within him, as if something thought he had made a good joke. And for an even briefer second he felt something akin to panic and concern flooding from the little part of his mind that was constantly tugging at him, telling him to go to another place faraway from here.

The part of his mind that occasionally brought warm comforting feelings to him as if someone cared about him but couldn't be there so sent those feelings to him instead, usually when he had a bad nightmare or was really scared. Or sowed the thoughts that made him wonder if the gibberish really was gibberish or that the random facts or names that came into his head were actually important, or even sent cravings for things he had never heard of.

Blinking he tried to apologise, to explain, but the adult shot him a vicious glare and he shrank back terrified. "Get out of here." The man snarled, "Before I decide not to give a damn about the punishment for beating the shit out of you."

Naruto flinched, slightly surprised at the anger he felt radiating at the base of his skull in retaliation to the man's threat, like whoever the feelings belonged to wanted to be there to keep him safe. It was a warm, almost parental, protective feeling emanating from that spot and as Naruto ran to the Hokage's office to explain he couldn't help but feel safer in the knowledge that somebody, somewhere cared for and wanted to look after him.

Arriving at the tower, he felt his spirits sink as he saw more and more people glare at him, looking like they wanted to outright attack him. The feeling was fading now, as if whatever had caused it to break through so ferociously was disappearing. He was terrified of talking to the Hokage after the incident but couldn't help but feel that it might be a good time to explain the feelings that he had had all his life and maybe get answers, the Hokage was known as the Shinobi Professor after all!

Yes, Naruto thought, he would explain what happened, everything would get sorted out and understood, he would get a second chance with those kids and then he could go home to enjoy his sunflowers! Yes, that sounded right. Everything would be okay in the end! Maybe he could even find out more about his parents by telling the Hokage about the weird there-but-not feelings, thoughts and beliefs that popped up in his head every now and again.

He ignored the niggling feeling in that part of his mind, telling him that it wasn't going to work like that. That he was being naïve and these people were going to disappoint him and his dreams. After all, why would that be? The Hokage was the Hero of the Village and heroes always make things better by the end of the day! Right?

The secretary glared at him from her desk outside the Hokage's office. "What do you want? The Hokage's busy right now, and I doubt that he'd want to see _you_ anyway." Naruto frowned, what did that mean? The Hokage was always happy to see him! And this lady had always been decent to him before, this wasn't making any sense.

The woman sneered before saying "Go on in if you really want to. Make it quick though, he has a meeting in ten minutes about your behaviour earlier." Naruto flinched, that had gone really badly. Although his Aunt would probably be proud…He was doing it again! He didn't have relatives, so why did part of him insist that he did?

Naruto shook his head before opening the door to the office. He looked worriedly at the slumped figure at the desk, with its hands covering its face. The person looked extremely old and tired, like the last thing the wanted to do was move or take part in anything that required thinking. Naruto swallowed nervously, had he done that? He hoped not. He was beginning to doubt that this had been a good idea…

"Um, Hokage-sama?" Naruto questioned uncertainly, scared for the response.

"What do you want Naruto? This really isn't a good time for me, what with your actions earlier."

Naruto felt like crying, even the Hokage was angry at him! This really wasn't good, how was he supposed to explain now?  
>"A-about that, I j-just wanted t-to explain to y-you-"He was cut off unexpectedly.<p>

"NARUTO! This isn't the time! Do you have any idea how much trouble this has caused me? You almost killed those children! Would have in fact! You were meant to be playing a game for god's sake! Sometimes I think things would have been easier if you hadn't have been born…" Shit, thought Sarutobi, did I just say that out loud to him?

Looking at the trembling four year olds rapidly watering eyes, he deduced that yes he really had said that to the already self-conscious and awkward child. "Look Naruto, I didn't really mean…"

The small boy backed away from him, a hurt, sad and desperately longing and lonely look forming in his eyes. He then turned and sprinted for the door, the secretary's mocking smile following him as he ran as far away as possible, plunging straight into the dense woodland without any hesitation whatsoever.

Eventually, Naruto stopped near a small pool of clear water, staring straight at his reflection and for once, completely hating what he saw. The soft skin, the messy hair, the lonely eyes glimmering with desperately held but slowly fading innocence and the intense black whisker marks running across the skin of his cheeks, making him look almost wolf like.

None of the colourings fit in Konoha, where the predominant colours of hair and eyes were dark. Admittedly there were several people with silver hair but Naruto didn't have silver hair, it was a pale, platinum colour that was caught in between blonde and silver. A colour he wasn't sure anyone else had ever had. The violet eyes were also a mystery, no-one anywhere in the world so far as he could tell, had such dark coloured but clear purple for their eyes. The pale skin was much lighter than those of the Uchiha or Hyuuga, almost as if it was from a person so far north that their skin was as pale as snow to blend in. Thus the black whisker marks were an extremely noticeable contrast on him.

He wanted desperately to cry his heart out, it just wasn't fair! He tried so hard to fit in and be liked. It wasn't his fault that hair dye refused to stay in, or that his skin refused to tan no matter how much time he spent outside or even that he always felt awkward and nervous around people, like he didn't know how to do anything but scare them.

Despondent, it wasn't until Naruto saw the deep orange-red water of the pool that he realised it was almost night. He began to panic, what about his sunflowers? He hadn't watered them at all today. He leapt to his feet and started to sprint desperately for him, scared and panicky for their wellbeing even though he knew they would be safe.

Naruto ignored the angry and somewhat fearful looks that both the adults and now children were giving him, he would never make friends now but that wasn't important. What was important was his sunflower garden that he had spent his entire life on from the moment that he could move his body on his own.

He reached the garden and felt his heart break. There were a few of strange men in his garden and from the way they were glaring at him, he could tell they weren't here to appreciate his flowers. One of the men lifted him up easily, laughing as he struggled to get down, desperate to save his precious sunflowers.

"So brat, I think you know what this is all about," drawled the man obviously in charge, "You attacked a bunch of pure and innocent children this morning. Luckily, someone was on hand to stop a monster like you destroy our newest and most promising generation. However, because of some irritating laws that stop us from actually harming you, we decided to give you some of the punishment you so richly deserve." Naruto swallowed, really not liking where this was going, but knowing there would be trouble if he interrupted.

"Imagine our delight when the Secretary in the Hokage told us of your little garden here," no, no, no. This just wasn't fair, not after all the work he put into it. "We decided to get word out to everyone about your love of this, now evil, plant. After tonight you will never see your beloved sunflowers again. Just like how the parents of those children may never have seen them again..." The man grinned, delighted with the look of horror and terror on the 'demon's' face. Funny, he used to really love sunflowers too.

As the other men started to rip the flowers out of the ground and tear them into pieces, the man walked up to the messy haired and now quietly crying freak. Pausing for a second feeling a terrifying foreboding feeling rise up in him, he stared at the creature in quiet surprise. It wasn't the kyuubi, he knew that much. But whatever it was, it was terrifying. It felt almost like someone out there, someone powerful and terrifying was seething at him, furious at him for hurting the brat. He shook the feeling off and decided to deliver the final round of punishment.

"Look at you, pathetic and weak. No wonder your father abandoned you, who wouldn't? Even then he must've known the failure you would become. And your mother was probably desperate to get killed or sent away so she wouldn't have the shame of being related to you. After all, nobody likes you. You have no friends or family, no one to support you, you are a complete freak and not even the Hokage cares about you anymore,"

He drew in a breath, ready to break the brat's spirit when he felt a wave of terror wash over him. He looked at the brat who was glaring at him hatefully, the usual sweet and innocent smile and sparkling eyes transformed into a dark and twisted expression. He could almost see a fiery purple aura around the child and for the first time got the feeling that the kid was more than a demon, demon container or even human. There was something incredibly ancient and knowledgeable about the aura, like the earth itself had come alive.

Straining his ears he could hear a faint chant coming from the child. It sounded almost like 'kolkolkolkolkolkolkol' although he was sure 'kol' wasn't a word there was something terrifying about it, like it was a promise of painful death and torture. He and the other two watched astonished as the child slammed a fist into their partner's ribcage and he could've sworn he heard the cracking of bones. Something seriously wasn't right here and they should get out while they still could.

Signalling the other two, he made a break for it scooping up his fallen friend's body and heading to the hospital, desperately trying to think up a plausible excuse for his injuries.

Naruto blinked, feeling the rage finally settle down. He had never lost control like that. He looked at his garden and let out a faint wail. It was ruined completely. And that man said they were going to get rid of all the sunflowers in Konoha.

Sitting in his ruined garden, the feelings and experiences of the day slammed into him. Making him burst out into fresh tears and wish he could find his way to a better place. The man's final words slammed his heart again. No friends, no family, even the Hokage didn't want him around.

Well, he would change that! He would make everyone want to be with him and do what he wanted so he'd never feel rejection again! He wiped away his last tears, vowing to never cry from negative feelings or weakness again.

Naruto remembered a conversation he had with the Hokage a few months ago.

_"Hey, I was wondering. How is the Hokage chosen anyway?" Naruto questioned._

_"Well, the Hokage is usually the strongest and most respected Shinobi in the village, when the current Hokage decides to step down, the successor is chosen to represent the Village."_

_"But what if someone disagrees with their right to lead or doesn't do what they say?"_

_"Well, like I said Naruto, they are usually the strongest in the Village. There is always an element in fear when people defy those stronger than them and that usually discourages attacks against their wishes."_

_"So people are more likely to do what someone wants if they're scared of them?"_

_"Partly, I guess. But remember Naruto, fear is never the best way to earn someone's heart."_

That was it! No-one would want to be friends with him but if he was scary enough then they wouldn't leave him. They would do what he wanted and he wouldn't have to act a certain way to have people around him. Oh…but the Hokage told him about wars and battles with other countries. He didn't want people to die; if they did he would be left alone again.

He could become Hokage and make the other countries join with Konoha! Then everyone would be his friends and he would never have to worry about losing people or being left alone again! Yes, he would become Hokage and make all the countries become one with Konoha.

**Tada! All finished within like, two days. I really need to find new pastimes if I can write over five thousand words in a story I started two days before. Just so you guys know, I am an impulse writer. Once I start writing, I don't really stop until I'm done and just sort of write things that come into mind as I do it. Which means that I had absolutely no plan for this chapter before I started writing it. **

**This means that most of my stories will update quickly, unless life decides to be a bitch and get in the way like it sometimes does. Any feedback would be appreciated but isn't necessary. Anyways, this is the part where Naruto goes insane and turns out like his dad for a while. He will turn back eventually, sort of. **

**I have decided to attempt to illustrate the characters as best I can with my crappy art skills. I am a word person mainly, I'm not that talented with art or numbers. For anyone who's confused about the physical appearances of the jinchuriki, they will still look the same but will have their parent's colouring.**

**Now, about the whole confusion on Naruto's part. When he thinks 'Aunt' and 'Auntie' he is in fact thinking about two _different_ people. Those of you who have seen enough of Hetalia will know who's who. About the feelings that he gets, like I said in the first chapter, they will totally have weird connections with each other. So Russia will feel bouts of concern and anger when Naruto is scared or threatened respectively. The extreme feelings will radiate across their bond to Naruto. **

**Russia and the other countries will not understand what the feelings are or where they come from. See, none of them have ever had children before so they won't know that they are experiencing what most parents feel towards their children.**

**The inner sadist in me is looking forward to Russia's reaction to how Naruto is treated most of his life. But he and the other countries won't be turning up for quite a few chapters. If enough people are interested, then I may do another story, detailing what Russia is going through.**

**Thank you for the positive reviews and I hope I can keep things going well.**

**I am actually finishing this up during English class, when I am supposed to be doing something else, but why would I listen to my teacher going on about someone else's story when I can work on my own?**

**Without much else to say, I bid you all adieu. **


	3. Simple Exams and An Obsessed Fangirl

**So for the benefit of you guys, I want to explain that yes, Naruto was uncharacteristically smart for a four year old last chapter. But I want you to remember that he grew up by himself and is the child of a country, therefore normal rules don't really apply to him. And he doesn't understand as much of his connection to Russia as I made him appear to. A lot of those feelings and ideas were instinctual. **

**I have decided that Naruto will know Russian so that occasionally he will say things to freak people out or instinctively talk to Russians. But that's not the point, when Naruto and the Jinchuriki meet their parents, should I have them taken back to the 'real' world and introduced to the rest of the world? I think it would be quite fun to write about meeting their respective families.**

**Naruto's not going to be crazy and intimidating all the time. He will show his more innocent side, usually when startled, really happy or for some reason, talking to Kiba. I honestly don't know why the last one is there but the way I see it, Kiba would accept Naruto as alpha but not actually be scared of him. Just see him as a more fanatical fellow pack member. So the way he views it, he and Naruto are best buddies! Kinda like America deciding he and Russia were best friends on the spot. Poor, poor Naruto, what have I inflicted on you…**

**Anyway so, doing a bit of a time jump because the rest of Naruto's childhood would be pretty boring to read about. For the sake of efficiency, let's just say that a lot of behind the scenes bullying and intimidating went on that the teachers didn't know about and most if not all of Naruto's class is terrified of him. Because of the disaster when he was little, he genuinely believes that they are friends of a sort. He will occasionally refer to Konoha as 'Mother Konoha' as well. That's just part of Russia's personality solidifying itself in him. You don't like that, tough. My story, my rules.**

**A lot of the girls are going to realise that although he's scary, Naruto is good-looking. And they're getting to that age where they start to look for boys and the thrill of the forbidden. Poor Naruto's going to have some fangirls interested in him. At least his dad only has one…**

**Disclaimer: Do I look dead to you? If not then I guess I'm not in a heaven where I own every successful franchise. Damn…**

Naruto smiled, hoisting his metal water pipe over his shoulder in such a way that it wouldn't really be noticeable and would surprise everybody when he pulled it out. Well, except for his classmates but they had already seen it. The tests were at the end of the week but that was no problem. After all, he had every one of his problems sorted out by his _friends _getting the information he needed off the teachers for him.

It was nice to have such good friends… Ami had even managed to get him a tan trench coat, unusually long pale pink scarf, almost knee length brown boats with flaps on top, khaki military style trousers and a neat sweater, shirt and tie set for the graduation exams at the end of the week. He pulled on the coat and wrapped the scarf securely around his neck. Looking in his mirror he grinned. Yes, this was just right. He felt militaristic in this, like a soldier ready to fight on the front line, where the guns blazed and the men shouted prayers to the lord whilst charging…

His grin faltered, Damn it! Why wouldn't this stop? He had tried for years to quell these feelings. They only seemed to be getting stronger, like someone was trying to warn him. Well, he didn't need help! He was almost thirteen for God's sake! He'd been looking after himself his whole life! He was going to stop these weird pangs of longing and worry. After all, he wouldn't be able to become Hokage and make the world one with Konoha if he didn't belong.

He glanced at the clock and sighed. This was getting him nowhere. Maybe he should go and ask Kaito if he knew what the test was going to be. After all, his parents were on the committee. He was bound to know what was going on. Not that it mattered. With all his friends' help he could be top of the class if it wasn't for the Uchiha boy.

Naruto frowned. Why did that boy think he was better than everyone else? After all they were all comrades working for the good of Mother Konoha, right? He should get along with and help his comrades then. Like all his comrades helped him!

Shrugging, he grabbed a quick breakfast and left his flat. The crowds gave him a wide berth. He was an intimidating figure, a five foot nine thirteen year old in a militaristic outfit with messy hair and terrifying eyes that sparkled with an innocence that hid a much darker and possessive nature.

He ignored the expressions of anger on the adults and was amused by the faint looks of fear he received from the young children. Although he didn't particularly like the look a couple of girls gave him. They made him think of long blonde hair, knives and a disturbing chant of 'marry me, marry me, marry me' in a terrifyingly evil voice. He shivered; occasionally he still had nightmares about that lady, whoever she was. Best to find Kaito and quickly before he freaked out in public.

Ino hummed, determined to look her best for Sasuke-kun. After all, he was the smartest, best-looking and coolest boy in the village. And with such a sad past, all he needed was a soft loving touch to show him how amazing life was. He was nothing like that horrible Naruto! She trembled; he was terrifying, tall and scary with such dark and twisted eyes.

Although, he was good looking with that pale hair and skin, violet eyes and whisker marks that made him look like a cute little animal when he smiled. And he was pretty smart too! He picked up things much faster than she did, but the teachers excluded him, making sure there were some things he wouldn't have known if it wasn't for him asking the other students in a way that didn't leave them any options on whether they did or not.

And now she thought about it, when he wasn't intimidating someone, he had such sad and lonely eyes. Like the whole world hated him and he wanted someone to give a damn about him, or that he was a lost and confused little boy who didn't know where he was or how he got there…

Hmmm, maybe she should talk this over with the other girls in their class. After all, on reflection Naruto and Sasuke were incredibly similar. Plus, thinking on it, she had seen a lot of the civilian girls start eyeing him up, considering him. That was understandable really; he _was _incredibly handsome in a strange and exotic way. Thinking about it, maybe he was even more interesting than Sasuke, after all, you could find hundreds of boys with Sasuke's colouring everywhere in the elemental countries and definitely in Hi no Kuni.

Whereas she had never even heard of anybody having Naruto's shade of hair or eyes. He was amazing, original and unique. Even the way he spoke was different. He was exciting! He was talented, smart, good-looking, unique, funny and caring in his own odd way. After all, wasn't calling them comrades and talking about 'Mother Konoha' a sign that he cared about their well-being? He noticed each of the girls; knew their names and could tell when they changed their hairstyle, clothes or even their make-up! Really, he was everything Ino was looking for in a guy. She had to have him, this must have been destiny. But the other girls who wanted him were an obstacle. If she could show him she was perfect for him over the other girls though. Yes, that would work.

Now to tell the other girls about Naruto's perfectness so he could see how much better she was…

Naruto smiled cheerfully, the first proper sparks of happiness he had felt in years flooding through him. The test was going to be easy! He would be on the next step in his dream in a weeks' time.

Entering the classroom, he moved to his normal chair. Nodding and bidding good morning to the Uchiha boy as he did so. Receiving a 'And what lame costume are you supposed to be wearing, Dobe?' for his troubles. He felt a surge of irritation, his previous contentment slipping away rapidly. There was nothing wrong with his clothes! Just because he wore actual colours and changed his style didn't make it stupid! Plus he wasn't even a dobe! Nor had he even ever been one!

Well aware that scaring the shit out of the kid would get him in trouble, Naruto shot the irritating boy a glare. He understood almost exactly what the kid was going through. He had experienced almost the same thing when he was four. Except in his case, he had no support or love from the village and its people.

Naruto heard the footsteps of several people heading towards the door. Girls he guessed. Most likely the Sasuke Fan Club. Seeing several familiar heads of hair as the door opened, Naruto sighed inwardly. Here we go again, he thought, bored. Bending his head and closing his eyes tiredly.

"Um, hi Naruto." Naruto blinked and sat up straight. That was new. He gave an uncertain smile. "Yes?"

The girls watching suppressed giggles. What was Ino doing? Although when he wasn't being intimidating, Naruto was adorable. The whiskers made him look like a little fox or wolf cub and the startled expression on his face as he blinked open his eyes and straightened up quickly was surprisingly cute. The shy and genuine if somewhat unsure and awkward smile he gave Ino afterward made most of the girls stare. Still, he could totally flip out and kill you if you did the wrong thing. You'd have to be obsessed to want to date him.

"I was just saying hi! After all, we're friends right?"

"Um, da?"

"Wonderful! You should spend time with me. We would make a totally perfect couple…"

"R-really?" Naruto began to edge away, slightly scared. He wasn't used to this.

"Uh-huh. I realised it this morning, you're perfect for me, and this must be destiny…" Naruto swallowed, edging away faster, this was really beginning to terrify him.

Ino moved, following him. Leaning right over the desk, "Is something wrong Naruto-kun," Kun? "You can tell me, we are soul mates after all…"

"Miss Yamanka, kindly take your seat. Class is about to start." Pouting, Ino complied with Iruka's request. Naruto let out a relieved breath, finally relaxing.

"What just happened?" He muttered out loud.

"That's what I want to know dude! All of a sudden the girls are flocking to ya!"

Naruto cringed, oh no. Anyone but _him_. The one person he couldn't intimidate, mainly because they had never actually fought against one another. The same guy who apparently thought that because they were both strong that they were 'best buddies'. For a brief second an image of a blonde haired man with a cowlick and blue eyes with glasses sprang into his mind.

Sighing, Naruto turned to face the one person he really didn't want to have to work with ever. Kiba Inuzuka, loud mouth braggart of the class.

"Good morning, Kiba."

"Mornin'!" The loud boy replied, his small dog barking a soft greeting to Naruto in acknowledgement.

"So, didja notice the other girls staring at ya during that talk ya had with flower girl?"

"Isn't her name Ino?"

"That's not the point! Those other girls were totally checking you out!"  
>"Checking me out?"<p>

"God, you're hopeless, I give up!"

"If you two are done being idiots, class is about to begin." A mild-mannered voice broke into their conversation.

The boys jumped. "Yes Master Iruka."

Naruto hated the Academy. The teachers didn't teach important things, the tests were simple and the children noisy. He hated having to respect the adults simply for being older than him. What did they know about people and Shinobi that he didn't already know? However, if he didn't want to get punished for the way he made his friends he would have to behave as a good kid for now.

Just one more week, he repeated to himself throughout the day. Just one more week and then I'm free to be the way I want to be.

Finally, the last lesson came. And they were doing something _interesting _much to Naruto's delight. Something called Instinctive transformation.  
>"Basically, you have an instinctive memory of the person that cares about you the most and that you look up to. Instinctive Transformation helps you recognise that person and learn more about yourself at the same time. At this point in your life, you will probably envision your parents or role model. The trick for this is to use the Transformation jutsu without focusing on a particular base. This will cause your mind to throw an image of your parent or role model into the jutsu at the last second. Now we'll try it one at a time. Naruto, you go first."<p>

Naruto glared but did as told. This was a test designed to trap him, he knew that much. It was common knowledge that he was an orphan without a role model or parental figure. There was no way he could pass this and he would look like a failure in front of his comrades. Perfect.

He channelled his chakra into the necessary focus points, cleared his mind and prepared to release the jutsu. As he did so, a brief flash painted his vision white. He felt the release of chakra and knew he was done.

The class stared. Everyone had expected a failed jutsu and a major tell-off by Iruka for not doing it right, not this.

Where Naruto had been standing was an exceptionally tall man, with the same messy silvery-blonde hair, pale skin and dark violet eyes. He was wearing a more official-looking trench coat with the same boots, scarf and trousers as Naruto. The only real differences between the two were the height, lack of whiskers on the man's face and the fact that Naruto was much less intimidating and dangerous feeling.

The man was obviously Naruto's father, there was no way the two could look so similar without being directly related. That much was obvious. But how could Naruto have done the jutsu having been an orphan since birth? Whatever the case, with a faint poof of smoke Naruto turned back into his normal self.

"What's wrong?" He asked confused. As far as he had been aware, the attempt was a failure. He looked at the teacher who had turned a pale colour.

"Class dismissed." Iruka choked out. What had that been? How could the so-called 'demon' have completed the exercise successfully? And into such an intimidating man! Maybe Naruto really was just an orphaned kid who had the short end of the stick of life handed to him.

The thought made Iruka sick in the stomach. He hadn't exactly gone easy on the kid. If Naruto was like him then he had made a dreadful mistake in pushing the child much harder than needed. He needed to think about this…

Naruto walked home, feeling the stares of the girls following him bore into his back. He really wished they would leave him alone. He didn't understand what they wanted from him and Kiba had been absolutely no help whatsoever. He had just laughed and said something about a chick magnet. Which confused Naruto even more, why would anyone want a magnet for attracting baby chickens?

The week passed quickly albeit with a lot of girls turning up wherever Naruto went, he had asked why they turned up at the places the first few times but after receiving nothing but giggles in response quickly gave up. He really didn't understand what was happening but wished it would stop.

The fact that the other boys got what was going on and found it funny really wasn't helping. Even when he had tried to 'persuade' some of the guys, Kiba had interfered to stop him being totally 'uncool' and 'unable to take a joke'.

This was the main reason he was so glad it was the exams today. Once they were over he could get away from his crazy classmates who didn't quite seem scared of him anymore. He would have to come up with a way to remind them what he was capable of.

So, the exams. He snorted. Hardly the most difficult of tests, make three clones. Easy! There must be a catch to it, there was no way they would let so many weak children become ninja. Now if he could just work out what had to be some sort of trick…?

"Hey! Naruto-kun!" Naruto stopped; his face paling and heart sinking in fear. Oh, God. Not her, he'd take anybody, even _Kiba_ over her.

Ino Yamanka, the blonde girl who had made her intentions with him perfectly clear. She had not stopped following him around everywhere. Talking about how perfect she was for him and that they were destined to be together. His nightmares about a woman chasing him demanding to be married were more frequent because of her.

Shit, Naruto thought hearing her footsteps accelerate behind him. He shook himself and started to sprint for the Academy. Maybe he could hide in one of the classrooms or an empty storage cupboard. Actually no, she would break in, like she had tried to last night. Naruto shuddered, that was a memory he did not want to relive.

Her shouts of "Naruto-kun! I know you're in there! Come out and I'll show you how perfect we are! We were meant to be together! Its destiny!" and similar things as she clawed at the door were going to scar him for life. He knew it.

"Naruto-kun wait! Don't leave me behind!" Naruto sped up; he was not going to get caught. The last thing he needed was to be dragged away to have an engagement agreement signed and trapped with her for the rest of his life.

Reaching the Academy, Naruto took the first chance he saw, ripping open a storeroom door and locking it, hiding behind a large box. Terrified out of his mind, he heard her begin to hit the door, screaming at him about how they were perfect and destined to be together.

"Go away!" Naruto shouted at the door, trembling in fear.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll get rid of this door soon…" Naruto trembled, a feeling of deja-vu flooding his body. This felt really familiar to him.

The door knob clattered against the floor, the door itself creaking open.

"Look Naruto-kun, I got rid of the door knob separating us, now we can be together forever…"

"Please go away!" He screamed, tears of sheer terror streaming down his face.

"What's going on here?" A questioning voice.

"Master Iruka!" Ino's voice back to normal, sounding slightly surprised.

Unbelievably happy, Naruto fled the room and clung to his teacher babbling about a whole load of things Iruka couldn't possibly understand.

Surprised at seeing the normally untouchable and stoic boy terrified and crying, Iruka looked at Ino who was now glaring at him, taking in the ripped door knob and the fact that Naruto had sprinted out of the room. Iruka sighed; it really was too early in the morning for this shit.

He sent Ino back outside to wait for her friends and took Naruto to his office, correctly assuming that separating them was the best idea. He made a cup of tea and gave it to the finally calming down, tall teenager.

"Come on, it's time for the exams." He said finally. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement.

He moved to his seat desperate not to be seen by the Ino. Luckily Iruka decided to make sure she was nowhere near him. Maybe not all the teachers were so bad. Perhaps Iruka would become a comrade. That would be nice…

"Uzumaki Naruto." His name was finally called.

"Da." Naruto responded quietly. He stood up and left through the door.

The exam went as flawlessly as he thought it would. The real test was getting out before Ino found him. Luckily he managed it, although he might need to find a new place to live, considering she knew his address.

"Hey, Naruto. Fancy taking a test for extra credit?" He stopped midstride, his eyes narrowing before he slipped his happy smile and innocent eyes on as he turned to face the teaching assistant, Mizuki.

"Extra credit? Like to do even better da?" he questioned, seeming like an innocent child asking a simple question.

Mizuki grinned, "Yep." He proceeded to explain the 'test', Naruto wasn't an idiot. This guy wanted to do something illegal but didn't want to get in trouble for it. As soon as the man finished talking, he childishly agreed to it before going straight to the Hokage.

He paused outside the door. He hadn't come here in almost ten years, since that horrifying, life changing night. He shook himself and opened the door.

Sarutobi looked at his paperwork and sighed. He looked at the picture on his desk of a smiling four year old Naruto holding a sunflower with a butterfly on it. His lips trembled. The boy had avoided him ever since he shouted at him. Had he hurt Naruto more than he originally thought? He heard the door creak and looked up expecting to see the secretary and felt his heart clench.

Standing there was a young teenage boy with pale skin, messy light hair, violet eyes and whisker marks in a tan trench coat, with khaki trousers, brown boots and a long pale pink-white scarf wrapped around his neck several times and reaching halfway down his legs, an older but still identical image of the boy in his photo. Naruto, he thought guilt coursing through him like a poison, you look so much like your father…

"I have something important to tell you..." He spoke, his voice childishly high pitched and soft, a foreign accent colouring his words.

Ye gods, thought Sarutobi, you even talk like him…

**Much later, in the forest…**

Naruto waited patiently. This was going to work so well. He even had a couple of new techniques. And now they would see how he was strong…

"Well, well, well. Looks like you actually did it, you alien freak." Naruto frowned. Alien?

"You didn't notice, God it's fucking obvious to anyone with a few brain cells. Whoever your dad was, he obviously wasn't from Konoha! Your colouring, your voice, even the accent you have is different! Must have been from one hell of a place to produce a freak like you…"

Naruto felt a surge of anger, sure he may have never known his dad or even cared about him, but whoever the guy had been was still his dad damn it! He felt the insane anger from long ago began to rise.

"Tch, and to sire a monster! The ultimate dishonour! Hey, did you ever wonder why you were hated before that incident when you were four? Why no-one wanted you? Why you were left to grow up alone? Why no-one ever helped you? Thirteen years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most dangerous demon of all, he who controlled ice and snow, attacked our village! But it was sealed into a pathetic baby, you. Since then you've been the disgrace and laughing stock of the village and when your no-good whore of a moth-"

Mizuki unexpectedly ran out of breath, courtesy of the thick metal water pipe crushing his throat. He was confused, where had that come from? And how-

"kolkolkolkolkolkolkolkolkolkolkolkol" Holy shit! What kind of laugh was that?! And how did Naruto's expression turn into something like that?

Naruto was, to put it lightly, pissed. First the guy insults his father for not being from the same place as everyone else, then Mizuki insults him and tells him something he'd rather not have known and then his mother was insulted by the traitor.

Traitor. That word made his blood boil. It meant that this man turned his back on his comrades and Mother Konoha and decided he was more important. It was people like Mizuki who had destroyed his garden and the only things that brought him joy. His rage hit boiling point.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he had drawn his pipe and slammed the _traitor_ into the ground, crushing the man's throat. He felt like laughing at the terrified and shocked expression. He had never been able to push someone as far as he wanted and it felt fantastic now that he could. He could make the man scream and cry, make him pay for insulting his parents, for being a blind fool. He could hurt and punish and…

Hands were pulling him back. "Okay, kid. That's enough." What?

Looking at where he was standing before, he saw a twisted, crying, whimpering mess of a man lying on the ground. Naruto felt a surge of sadistic pleasure. He had done that. Taken a sane man and broken him. Turned him into a broken mess in seconds.

Suddenly worried about getting in trouble he looked at the man who pulled him back, Ibiki wasn't it? The man was giving him a grudgingly impressed look.

"Not bad kid, give it a few years and you could join us in I and T."

Naruto blinked, he wasn't in trouble. That was unusual.

He was pretty thankful though. The last thing he wanted to do was get in trouble for nearly killing someone. That would be, inconvenient. Now if only he could do that to Ino…

He should be heading home to rest for team placements thought. Although that had been rather fun. He bade goodnight to the impressed ANBU and went to his apartment. Thankfully, Ino had given up attempting to ambush him at home. He threw on his pyjamas and fell asleep thankful for the fact that he had gotten rid of a traitor. Mother Konoha only needed loyal comrades if it was to make every country and village become one…

**Poor, poor Naruto…I gave him an America figure and a Belarus figure in the same chapter. Yes, I am aware that I probably went too far with Ino's obsession, but think about it this way. Ino's obsession with Sasuke, Ino realising similarities between Sasuke and Naruto, Ino realising Naruto fulfils most of the criteria almost every girl has for her dream boy, Naruto is exotic and different in this, other girls have expressed an interest in Naruto albeit silently, Ino wants Naruto for herself. That thought process turns her into Shinobi!Belarus, she even has the same kind of colouring. Sort of.**

** Ino scares Naruto, like Belarus scares Russia. For those of you who are Hetalia nerds like me, you will recognise the cupboard room scene between the two. As for why Naruto didn't seem to get the feelings like before. Well, he's a big boy now, he figures he doesn't need it and so ignores it. But it is still sending messages to him. Mainly in the forms of his dreams. I wanted to get the Mizuki scene done quickly but it felt too rushed although I couldn't be bothered fixing it…**

**Naruto will be insane for a few more chapters and then it will fade into unusual habits and ways of talking about things. I'm not sure how to represent Sakura. If I make her too much of a whiny bitch then I'll feel like a biased author if I make her too good then it'll be unrealistic. So I'll probably spend some time working out how to go with that and hopefully it'll work out fine. **

**No countries for a good while but I have an idea as to where I should end this story and am thinking of how to work the sequel even now. Which probably I shouldn't be doing considering this is a pretty new story but ah well. The busier you are the more work gets done. **

**Now I have to get some sleep tonight otherwise I'll get in trouble with my dad. So Long, Farewell Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night. (And yes I did just go Sound of Music on you. Deal with it, cupcakes.)**


	4. Photos and A Dysfunctional Team

**Ok, I lied. The whole Sakura thing didn't take me as long to sort out as I said it would. So, back once again with my fourth upload this week. This is seriously starting to scare me. Do I really have this much free time? Although I have to say, writing this story is pretty addictive. And the idea. Just. Won't. Leave. Me. Alone. Seriously, it's in my head almost constantly. I can't believe how much of my mind space it's taking up. I really have to get this done as soon as possible or my school career is going to go down the drain. I know it.**

**Panic over, now we're getting to the more fun part of the story. Not that the last chapter wasn't fun to write… Is it disturbing how much fun it is to write a crazy, sadistic kid with a metal pipe and homicidal tendencies? I'm guessing it is. My mind must be one fucked up place to be coming up with all this. Actually, even coming up with this in the first place makes my head seem weird. God, no wonder I'm seeing a psychologist…**

**This chapter Naruto gets his team! And I'm sticking with Team 7 because dysfunctional groups are much more fun to write. That and I don't want to torture him by putting him with Ino or Kiba. That would just be cruel…**

**Disclaimer: Still not dead yet? That's disappointing; I really want those franchises…**

Naruto woke up the next morning thanking God that for whatever reason he had never needed as much sleep as regular people. It would have been a disaster if he was late. Taking a shower, he began to meditate on the possible teams. Reflecting on one of the good things to come out of the previous night as he finished and began to get changed, it was definitely nice to be back on good terms with the Hokage. He'd actually missed the old man…

A faint feeling of approval pulsed at the back of his skull as he pulled on his trousers. He ignored it with practised ease. He didn't need any acknowledgement from anyone. Besides, he was pretty sure normal people didn't have that kind of part to their minds in the first place. Then again, he'd never been exactly normal…

It didn't matter, he decided. Pulling on his boots, he reached for his shirt. He was looking forward to meeting his new teacher and seeing if they were worthy to be called 'comrade', after all, Mother Konoha needed only the best, right?

He pulled his head through the sweater having done his tie. Neatness counted after all. Naruto grabbed his trench coat, swinging it into place before arranging his scarf so it fell neatly behind him, reaching almost to his knees, despite having wrapped it around his neck several times. He checked his appearance in the mirror, smoothing out his hair. He wanted to look his best for the ID photo after all.

He wouldn't dream of doing some of the things he'd heard Kiba contemplate – Not that he'd been actually listening to him! The idiot just talked really loudly! Naruto didn't care what he said! – Shinobi from the other villages would be able to see it and it would go on your records so it was better to have a neat and presentable picture. Good first impressions were important.

Satisfied with his appearance he left his apartment, neat and tidy as always, and made his way to Hokage tower. Hoping desperately he wouldn't run into Ino on his way. He wasn't up to another day of avoiding her. Plus she had embarrassed him yesterday, in front of Iruka no less! Naruto blinked, seeing the offices come into view. Well, here went nothing…

Sarutobi smiled happy with the picture in his hands. Naruto always made him so proud. He was sensible and mature with an intense loyalty to Konoha that surpassed his own pride. Naruto coming to his office the night before to tell him of the traitor Mizuki was a perfect example. Sometimes he really wished Naruto was his own grandchild. If it had been Konohamaru, the boy would have pulled some ridiculous expression with face paint no doubt, of that he was sure.

He gave Naruto an approving look. "Well done Naruto. An excellent photo. You look presentable and professional; sadly the same cannot be said for many of your classmates…"  
>"I figured I should look my best for the picture. After all, it goes down in the record books and even the other Villages' bingo books if you get strong enough, da?"<p>

That was slightly disturbing, Naruto had always had his strange language but this was bordering on a different level. As far as he could tell, the boy had never really used 'da' in everyday language or whilst having a normal conversation.

"Yes, quite. If only your classmates showed the same level of intelligence and maturity. One in particular…"

"Kiba, da?"  
>Startled, Sarutobi looked up. "How did you know that?" He asked, shocked.<p>

"It was obvious. He's the type of person to do that and you always have a particular facial expression you adopt when dealing with or talking about troublemakers or kids who are slightly idiotic. Kiba is the only child in my year with a personality like that." That and Naruto knew about everything that was going on across the village instantly thanks to his comrades but Sarutobi didn't need to know that.

"Right, well. Very good." Sarutobi was worried. Had he become so old that a child could read him with ease?

Naruto frowned: he hadn't meant to make the old man doubt himself. He had just wanted to double check that Kiba had been an idiot when having his picture taken. Before the he could say anything though, the door slammed open and a young child burst into the room, screaming "On guard old man!"

Before promptly falling flat on his face after tripping on his scarf. Naruto sighed inwardly, that was why he made sure his scarf didn't dangle on the ground even if winding it around his neck so many times was a pain in the morning…

"Oww, what? Oh I get it! This is a trap! You there, you tripped me!" The small child proclaimed, pointing directly at Naruto. The tall man at the door pointing out that there were no traps was ignored by everyone in the room.

The child was grinning; pleased with himself for 'figuring out' who had 'tricked' him. The smile faltered as Naruto stared at him blankly, small innocent smile still in place. Konohamaru began to shiver, this kid was starting to scare him, and usually someone would have said something by now.

Stare.

What should he do? If he made a fuss he would look like an immature little kid pouting about being ignored. Even if that had been his reason for bursting into the room in the first place.

Stare.

For the first time he noticed, the long scarf around the tall boy's neck, wrapped securely around it and reaching to his chin. Inwardly, he scoffed. The guys wasn't cool enough to have his scar trail on the ground like a cape like he did! And it was such a sissy colour too! What kind of guy wore pink?

Stare.

Although, he was definitely masculine and strong, and tall and kind of scary with that smile and those blank eyes. He could just tell he had annoyed the boy slightly. But it felt like right now the boy was considering him. And yet he got the feeling he didn't want to be on the boy's bad side…

"What is your name?" Stare.

Holy hell! The boy had the weirdest accent! He had never heard anything like it and it was so high pitched for a teenage boy and so soft…

"What is your name?" Stare.

Finally, Konohamaru gave into instinct and blinked. "K-Konohamaru. I-I'm the H-Hokage's g-grandson." He stammered out.

The boy inclined his head. "Nice to meet you Konohamaru." The boy then stood up gracefully and elegantly left the room. Konohamaru blinked, feeling a faint flush of embarrassment creep over him. The boy had been so tall and mature whilst he'd been acting like a brat, barging in on an audience the boy had with his grandfather.

And yet, a small thrill of pleasure rose in him. He had told the boy the Hokage was his grandfather and the boy had still called him by his own name, rather than 'honoured grandson'! He felt bad for insulting the boy in his head. He had been so gracious in acknowledging him. He could have shouted at Konohamaru, insulted him, and called him immature. Yet all he did was call Konohamaru by his name and leave him to his business with his grandfather.

And the way he moved was so effortless and graceful and elegant. He looked more like royalty than a shinobi, especially with that good bone structure, soft hair and deep violet eyes. He had to know this kid's name, even if the boy did still scare him a bit.

"Grandfather?" He asked hesitantly, breaking the awed silence that had descended upon the boy's exit.

"Yes, Konohamaru?"

"Who was that?"

There was a faint laugh from his grandfather. "That Konohamaru, was Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto hummed as he left the tower. The young boy had been interesting, he could see the desperation in his eyes. He could see the loneliness of being known only for who his family was and a longing to be acknowledged as his own person. So Naruto had given him that. It was only fair, one day they would be comrades after all.

He understood that feeling. Being outside from everyone else because of something you had no control over. Maybe someday Konohamaru would help him make the world one with Mother Konoha!

He settled into his seat in the classroom for the last time. He studied the hopeful faces of his soon-to-be former classmates and felt a surge of nostalgia. He had spent quite a few years here after all. Seized by a sudden desire to leave his mark, he summoned a small amount of chakra and channelling it into the wind element, left a small carving of a star and sickle with his initials, U.N underneath on his desk. He smiled, that was acceptable.

"Naruto-kun!" The smile slid straight off his face. Couldn't he get a break from the crazy girl? She just wouldn't leave him alone! He caught a glimpse of the Uchiha boy giving him a sympathetic look. He understood Naruto's predicament fairly well. Of course he had never had such fanatical fangirls. Ino had tried to break into Naruto's house over forty-seven times that week. Thinking about it, Naruto wanted to groan in exasperation. He had had to buy a new set of locks for every opening in his apartment.

Sinking so his head was level with the edge of the table, Naruto was inordinately grateful that Kiba and Shino decided to sit beside him and Shikamaru, Choji and Kaito were in front of him, leaving no seats near him free for Ino, much to the blonde girl's displeasure.

Please God, Naruto prayed despite never having believed in it before, don't let me be on a team with her…

"Alright class! That is enough." Iruka was here, oh thank God…

After a long and somewhat boring lecture from the teacher, Naruto liked him but God could the man _talk_. Now they were at the part he had anticipated and dreaded. The team placements.

"…Team seven, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto," Please not Ino, please not Ino, oh _God_ please not Ino… "Uchiha Sasuke." Yes! There _was _ a God!

Naruto spent the next few moments in a daze, just thankful he wasn't on a team with that maniac. He dimly recognised Ino shouting about it being unfair that she was with Shikamaru and Choji and not himself. He would have died had he been on a team with her.

He surveyed his new teammates. Haruno Sakura, a pre-teen girl with absurdly bright pink hair that would get her spotted in enemy territory immediately. All brains and no brawn. Her skills lay entirely on her ability to think and dodge. Somewhat useless seeing as he could do those things probably better than she could _and _fight well.

And then there was Uchiha Sasuke. A pompous dark haired teenager obsessed with revenge and much too full of himself. His belief that he was the best and could never be beaten merely because of his title was laughable. Naruto could beat him easily if he ever needed to. His weaknesses were that he believed he was stronger and better than he actually was. He lost his temper easily and was unbelievably easy to manipulate. It was the common misconception that because he didn't talk much that he must be deep and mysterious.

Naruto scoffed. The boy was ridiculously easy to read. His body said everything about him. Just by watching the way he moved and reacted when someone spoke to him had told him everything he needed to know about the boy's goals, motivation and deepest thoughts. His heightened senses told him everything else he needed to know, even his favourite food and deepest vice. Konoha's psychologists must suck if they couldn't see what Naruto could.

It was so easy to read so many people, he had yet to meet a person he couldn't read. It was like he had so much experience reading people that no-one could formulate a defence impenetrable enough to keep him out, even the most talented at it couldn't stop him, couldn't even slow him down.

The class was dismissed for lunch. Thankfully Ino seemed to have forgotten about him for now. Although he could see her arguing with another girl and caught a flash of metal. Oh God. If she was arming herself he could really be in trouble…

"Hey, you ok? I mean, like you've been kinda out of it…" Surprisingly Kiba wasn't shouting in his ear. That was a first. And his tone sounded strange, almost concerned. He turned to face the boy and sure enough he could read real concern and worry in the boy's dark eyes.

He nodded. "Da, I am fine." The dog-loving boy burst into a bright grin.

"Great! I was worried about ya!" Naruto flinched, he really hated how loud Kiba talked.

Naruto, Shino and Shikamaru exchanged long suffering looks as Choji politely listened to Kiba's rambling.

"Tch, troublesome. Oh yeah, Choji told me about this place his dad likes. Some sort of Ramen Bar. Fancy going?" Shikamaru asked, a very tiny spark of apprehension in his eyes. Naruto smirked inwardly, the clan children weren't anywhere near as terrified of him as the rest of the class but they were still very cautious around him and he knew he intimidated even them. Somehow, Naruto just gave a soft feeling of fear and worry onto anyone who met him. It was like a subconscious message saying he was not to be messed with.

"Da, I would like that." He responded quietly, happy to see the nervousness die down.

"Wonderful! I can take us there now if you like." The two other boys jumped whilst Naruto smirked. They hadn't noticed Choji join their conversation.

"I must ask. Exactly how far away is the restaurant? If we were to be late on the first day of being a team it may lead to controversy later on that would be preferably avoided." Shino asked, his monotone voice stoic and quiet as usual.

"Shino makes a good point, da? It would hardly make a good teamwork environment for our comrades if we made a bad impression on the first day with our new teachers." Naruto agreed, skilfully ignoring the slight flinches the other boys made at the word 'comrades'.

"I-It's not far, I swear." Choji stuttered, as he began to lead the way. He really hated when Naruto called them comrades. It made him remember first becoming the boy's friend and the massive metal pipe he carried everywhere, in case he needed to 'remind' someone on what being comrades meant. He hoped Naruto wouldn't go into one of his 'Mother Konoha' moods. Those were scary.

Usually you could navigate around Naruto without too much trouble, but sometimes if you said the wrong thing he got pissed and started doing that creepy laugh, with a dark look on his face. He really didn't want to be on the wrong end of Naruto's moods. The last kid who did that by accident went to hospital and afterwards transferred to the civilian school. Naruto had been depressed at losing one of his comrades for an entire week.

"And that is how I, as an awesome hero, saved that puppy! It was totally cool and…guys?" Kiba sighed slightly. They'd left him behind again. He was just telling a story. Probably Naruto had wanted to go somewhere and the others followed him.

He frowned, personally he considered Naruto to be a close friend and was in total awe of the guy's commitment to Konoha, kinda like a more fanatical member of the pack but a member all the same but he wished the guy wasn't so creepy. And he bullied the other kids to make them do what he wanted. The whole class had been in abject terror of him and the guy didn't care.

But he'd paid attention, he could see the glimmer of madness and loneliness in the boy's eyes. And had decided at a young age to be the exotic boy's hero and save him from his current self! Yes someday, he'd save Naruto and the guy would understand just how good a friend and pack member he was. And then they could be friends forever!

Naruto smiled, waiting patiently for his teacher. The lunch had been nice. He and the boys had gotten on well with nice conversation. The food had been good as well. He wasn't a big fan of ramen but could understand Choji's fascination with it now, having had the Ichiraku's stuff. He was slightly put out to have been waiting for three hours for the man taking them to turn up but aside from that it had been uneventful.

Just the Uchiha brooding and the Haruno girl squealing over him. Nothing unusual really. He could see the Uchiha glancing at him every now and then. Probably hoping to catch him doing something stupid and 'dobe-like'. Pfft, as if! No true child of the Motherland would do something idiotic just for attention!

He paused in his thoughts, frowning slightly. He just had a weird thought that shouldn't have been there but before he could work out what it had been, the door opened to reveal their teacher.

"Hi there!" The man greeted, apparently unfazed by Sakura's attempt to impress Sasuke by being overly enthusiastic in welcoming to the unusual man or Sasuke and Naruto's vague acknowledgements.

"I would have been here earlier but I got lost on the road of life!" He exclaimed, silently chuckling at the disbelieving looks on Sakura and Sasuke's faces.

Before meeting unimpressed violet eyes shadowed by messy hair over pale skin. He almost did a double take. The boy sitting on his chair looked almost identical to someone he knew he had met once. The tan trench coat, pale pink scarf, khaki trousers and brown boots increasing the feeling of deja-vu.

He cleared his throat "Anyway, my first impression of you all is that you're boring!" the violet eyes narrowed in a faint look of reproval, exasperation and irritation that he knew he had _definitely _ seen before. A long time ago…

"Meet me on the roof." He left the room, confused and, though he would never admit it, slightly intimidated.

Once Team Seven was gathered on the roof. The man brought their attention to him before announcing, "Let's get to know each other first. Names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dream for the future."

"Shouldn't you go first then sir? You're the rogue element for us." Naruto snorted, Haruno really was an idiot. It was obvious to him that the guy wasn't going to tell them anything and why should he? They were just a bunch of rookie kids. They had no right to know anything about their teacher.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like telling his likes and dislikes, my dreams for the future are none of your business and I have lots of hobbies."

Or reading between the lines and Kakashi's body language, Naruto thought, you could replace that with Porn, losing comrades, paying back his debt to his dead friend and reading porn and training for each of the categories respectively.

"You, Emo boy."

"Hn. My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I have plenty of things I hate not that it matters seeing as there's almost nothing I like," Apart from tomatoes, Naruto's brain supplied. "I don't have dreams because that's just a word. What I do have is an ambition," wasn't that the same thing? Naruto wondered, "I plan to restore my clan and kill a certain someone…"

There was silence. And then a "Tch, so what?" From Naruto.

All eyes turned to him. "You're making such a big deal out of it. In your career as a shinobi you'll kill loads of people and you're so concerned about _one _ person? Hitler killed millions for God's sake!"

There was a pause and then "Who's Hitler? I've never heard of him." Sakura broke the confused air.

Naruto frowned, "Fuck, did I say that out loud? That hasn't happened in years." He began to scowl and started muttering to himself.

There was a pause before Kakashi said, "Anyway, whilst Mister Scarf is thinking out loud to himself, we'll listen to Pinky!"

Sakura frowned, she hated being called that, "My name's Haruno Sakura, my favourite thing is, well it's a boy actually. Anyway moving onto my dream…" She paused blushing, before continuing "I used to hate one of my friends but then she stopped going after Sasuke…" Kakashi rose an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Who was it?"

"Ino!"

Naruto jumped, "Fuck! Oh God is she here? Please tell me she isn-"

"No, Naruto! She's not here I swear!" Sakura exclaimed, desperate to calm Naruto down. She had heard stories about what happened when Naruto was angry or freaked out.

Naruto calmed down slightly and shot an irritated glare at Sakura. He really didn't appreciate people doing things like that…He drew in a breath ready to tell her so.

"Well seeing as Scarfie is done 'thinking' we can go to him."  
>Naruto threw Kakashi a look of loathing. His scarf had been a present from Ami and he was quite proud of it. He delighted in the slight look of unease and fear his teacher thought was hidden. Before smiling with sparkling innocent eyes like usual.<p>

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like sunflowers, my scarf and working together with my comrades for the good of Mother Konoha. I dislike those who try to take or break what is mine or harm my comrades. My dream is to become Hokage and make the world one with Konoha!" Naruto exclaimed, well aware that he was going to scare the teacher. This was his standard speech and got a perfect reaction every time.

Naruto inwardly grinned at the brief flash of sheer terror and shock that flashed in his teacher's visible eye. Naruto knew he had disturbed the man from the beginning and now had him severely perturbed. He could see the unease in every line of the man's body. His teacher wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

Sasuke and Sakura were unaffected by the speech. They'd heard it every year and were used to it by now. The one thing every kid in their class had agreed on was that the speech was very Naruto.

There was a piece of paper handed to him. He read through it, his inward grin stretching to the point that the ghost of the smile was straining his lips.

As Kakashi explained the real test, he looked forward to see the reactions. Sakura and Sasuke were as priceless as he thought they would be but Naruto was grinning. An actual mirthful grin like he had been expecting something like this all along. Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. The teenager had unusually piercing eyes and Kakashi had a feeling that he could see right through all his defences. Which really was unnerving.

He had heard about what the boy had done to Mizuki the night before and really that was the most disturbing thing. He could also see the fear the other two had of Naruto. It was obvious to Kakashi that more had gone on in the Academy than he had originally thought. Although he and every other jonin had heard about the Yamanka girl's startling obsession with Naruto.

Inoichi had almost had a heart attack upon hearing about it. He had gone straight home that night to tell her off for liking the demon container. He came into work the next morning and wished the Jinchuriki luck because according to Inoichi, Naruto was really going to need it.

He dismissed the trio. He had some records that he needed to look through. There might be something important that a teacher had noticed in passing that could explain some of Naruto's odd behaviours. And maybe he could work out more about the deja-vu feeling he had around the boy…

**Bell test next chapter! You guys have no idea how tempting it was to make this a super long chapter with team selection and Bell Test in it but I felt that would be over-ambitious. Besides it would take me longer and I want to keep my record of a chapter a day. But probably I won't be able to upload on weekends. Just a heads up there for you guys.**

**Yup, Naruto is scared shitless of Ino, personally I think if somebody like that was stalking me I would want to get as far away as possible from them too. My chapters are slowly getting longer and my ANs shorter, I can tell. But that's ok. I wanted to get to that point anyway, so it's all good. **

**Naruto slips up a couple of times this chapter. Not even noticing he does it. He should really have learnt by now, the more he fights his connection and instinctive memories from his dad the stronger the impulses are going to get. I love the idea of Kakashi having met Russia when he was dating Kushina and then forgetting about him. It makes for so much fun. I like scaring my characters and making them confused. In a really scary way, it's really fun.**

**Yes, Naruto can read everyone easily apart from the other children of Nations, they are the only ones with the instinctive knowledge on how to be impenetrable to each other. They are also going to have an instinctive understanding of tactics, analysis and how to make split second decisions to work things to their advantage. Poor Kakashi won't know what's hit him in the next chapter. **

**Don't worry guys, Naruto will start speaking Russian soon. I'll work it into the next chapter hopefully. Still got a while before the other Jinchuriki turn up. This is currently very Naruto-centric. **

**I'm not entirely sure I like the way I keep changing perspectives but it seems to fit the style of the story and who am I to question the Impulse Writing part of my brain. It tells me to write something a certain way, I write it that way and that's the way that fits. So, my writing style for different stories will probably vary, depending on how my brain decides to play it out.**

**I quite enjoy crazy-but-still-sane Naruto. It adds a fun element to the story and plot. This is probably how Naruto will be throughout the story. Only right now, he considers only a few people his 'comrades' and wants everywhere to become one with Konoha. Those are the only things that will change really. Well, also how often he goes crazy.**

**The members of the Rookie Nine **_**do **_**like Naruto except for Sasuke. It's just that they're scared of him. They watch what they say and try not to antagonise him as much as possible. Kinda like the Baltic States in Hetalia. As you can probably tell, I haven't really decided pairings. Even when I do, they'll be more of a side thing. Or I could make it an entire village full of unrequited love. Ahhh, the joys of being an author…**

**Anyway, that's all I've got to say to you guys right now. No doubt I'll post this and realise something else I wanted to say or explain. Such is life. It's been a pleasure, until next time!**


	5. Tests, Cats and A Proper Mission

**Hey guys, so continued the story and guess what? Naruto speaks Russian this chapter! It's not a whole lot but no-one will understand him and it will majorly freak them out, which promises to be fun for me to write…**

**It may seem as if Naruto is going through angst at the moment but he is in between the soviet urges and finding that point where he doesn't terrify everyone around him on instinct. His guards pretty high up right now but it will lower.**

**I would like to thank Sunniharvest for giving me the idea of Sakura as a Ukraine figure to counteract Ino's Belarus characteristics. I will definitely put that into play this chapter. He does need an older sister and Sakura works. Not sure what Sasuke's going to be. Probably just someone who pisses Naruto off a lot.**

**In response to Ichi Sohma's review, I guess that you could describe Kiba as a combination of Prussia and America, but he definitely has some of his own characteristics. Like the ability to read the atmosphere and know when to back off, unlike America and Prussia…**

**Disclaimer: Until I work out a way to blackmail the actual owners, nothing I write about belongs to me. Now to start plotting…**

Naruto was meditating. Not that that was unusual, what was unusual was that if he had been going to attend the test at the correct time, he would have left roughly two hours beforehand. Luckily for Naruto, he was capable of seeing that their teacher was obviously someone who wouldn't turn up on time and therefore that gave Naruto more leeway than he usually had at this time in the morning.

He had already tidied and cleaned his apartment, had breakfast, gone shopping for groceries, done his morning warm-ups and training regime, finished his meditation and was currently deciding on whether he should read his new book or head over the training field. Considering the time, he guessed it would be better to leave now.

Sasuke was pissed. Not only was their teacher late, Naruto hadn't bothered to turn up yet, leaving him alone in a field with a fanatical fangirl without having had any breakfast. For two FUCKING hours. He officially hated them both. Although, Kakashi probably hadn't realised the infatuation that Sakura had with him.

Naruto definitely did it on purpose. The guy seemed to spend all his free time pissing off Sasuke. He was so annoying with that stupid smile and expressionless eyes. Although, he would never outright attack the blonde. That guy was pretty damn scary. The way he seemed to know everything about you without putting in any visible effort in was disturbing.

He could still remember coming to school after the massacre, his new emotionless mask in place to show the world he was an avenger. Only to have the pale blonde completely break it down and tell him his innermost thoughts in seconds. Sasuke shivered, he'd fooled the best psychologists in Hi no Kuni and in some cases the world, only to have an eight year old weirdo spell out his entire life history in less than half a minute.

The foreign sounding boy concerned him for another reason as well. It was well known that the best looking people in the leaf were the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. Both he and the current prodgie of the Hyuuga house could've had their pick of any girl in the village if it weren't for Uzumaki. The boy fascinated the girls in the village and whilst Sasuke would normally enjoy having less attention on him, the loss of a major amount of support from his fangirls across the village was disturbing. And as far as he could tell, Uzumaki didn't even notice!

Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke was not gay. Bisexual maybe but not gay, he could appreciate a good looking girl. Which is what confused him about Uzumaki the most. The guy had a significant amount of girls _and _guys checking him out almost constantly. The fact that the blonde couldn't even tell what they wanted was exasperating to say the least. Also Uzumaki seemed to have no curiosity for experimenting or even noticing kids their age as possible sexual attractions. It was like he didn't even know what they were hinting at. But that was impossible, after all surely his parents would have explained it to him…

Oh, oh God. There was no _way_ that Uzumaki could possibly be that innocent! Although now Sasuke thought about it, Naruto had been sent out on errands during the whole reproduction and sex topics in the academy. And not having any parents and the weird way no adult in the village even had a kind word to say to or about him probably meant that Naruto didn't really know anything about it…

"Sakura…" He said finally, catching the pink haired girl's attention.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"Do you think Naruto knows about _it_?" Sakura paused confused, what it? Unless maybe…

"Umm, I don't know Sasuke-kun. I've never heard him talk about anything like that. Nor have I ever seen him check out anybody. You don't think that he's completely innocent of that kind of thing? Oh, but who would have taught him?"

Sasuke gave a hn in response, surprised when the normally rabid girl didn't respond with the usual squealing. They exchanged a glance and came to a unanimous agreement. To see if Naruto knew anything about sex…

"Good morning comrades! It is a beautiful day, da?" Speak of the devil…

"Morning Dobe, still got your stick? Is it hard?" Okay it was official, Sasuke sucked at double entendres. Sakura flushed embarrassed to be talking about such things. Naruto seemed oblivious to the double meaning as he frowned. The two could practically hear the whistling noise as it flew over his head.

"It is not a stick, comrade. It is a pipe, da? Of course it is hard, it is made of metal, da? Is something wrong with you Uchiha-san." The blonde boy pointed out reasonably.

"Um, I heard Ino talking about how she wanted do you yesterday…" Sasuke choked on his own spit as Naruto shot the two a confused look whilst sitting down.

"Do what? I don't understand what you are talking about or why Uchiha-san seems to be turning red…"

When Kakashi finally turned up an hour later, he was shocked to hear the Uchiha and Haruno using double entendres with Uzumaki not understanding what they were on about or why they were talking about weird things. Kakashi sighed; no way could a kid reach that age and still be that innocent before landing on his team. But apparently God hadn't been listening to the rules of the universe when creating Uzumaki Naruto…

Okay, now to start explaining the test…

Naruto frowned in concentration, trying to figure out the best angles for attack. He couldn't, _wouldn't_ retreat. That was something that cowardly Italians did. His eyes widened as he heard Sakura scream in the distance. But Kakashi was right in front of him, how…

Oh right, his teacher knew shadow clones. Well, Naruto thought as Sasuke attempted a direct attach on the jonin, two can play at that game, comrade…

Kakashi roved his eyes through the trees and undergrowth attempting to spot the illusive teen. Despite the fact that his clothes should have made it blaringly obvious where he was, he couldn't spot the blonde teen anywhere. Kakashi had to give his dues, the kid knew how to hide and sneak.

A spinning blade whizzed right past his face. He leapt back shocked that a genin had got the jump on him of all people! Belatedly, he remembered his sensei teaching him that you should never underestimate your opponent despite their rank, after all they could have been holding back to surprise supposedly stronger enemies. Apparently Naruto was one of those people.

He spotted a brief flash and leapt after it, grabbing the boy in a headlock disappointed in the lack of a fight. Only to see the boy grin at him. "Boss said 'Pryvet Comrade' and to make sure you don't get too hurt."

Boss? But that would mean…Oh God. He just time to realise that he'd been plaid expertly before the clone exploded.

Coughing, Kakashi looked around. That had been a well played tactic. Naruto would have seen how fast he was and played to his low expectations of genin perfectly. He may just have a rival for Gai's budding taijustsu genius…

He blinked as he saw a faint blur in front of him and leapt backwards right before a fist slammed into the ground causing a faint crater. Oh yes, Kakashi thought grinning evilly, Lee would definitely have his hands full with Uzumaki…

"Greetings comrade! It is a fine day to be fighting, da?" The purple eyes of the boy shone far too cheerfully, like he had been looking forward to an all-out fight for quite some time…

He danced around the Jinchuriki's deceptively strong blows, somewhat surprised by the constant grace and elegance the other moved with. Noting with approval how smooth the transitions between movements were, the style obviously well ingrained into the boy. Now if only it was an actual taijustsu style…

The boy continued to grin, never slowing down at all. Kakashi frowned, this was getting ridiculous. He had heard of the boy's high stamina, speed and strength but this was the first time he had seen it

in action. The way the boy moved was disturbing, like he had a plan and was manipulating Kakashi into place.

Deciding to surprise the child, he leapt backwards and performed the Great Fireball jutsu. He felt his body flood with shock as without missing a beat, Naruto summoned a vast expanse of water and extinguished the jutsu using the small embers left to blow a massive fireballs back with the wind style Great Breakthrough.

So the kid could improvise very well. All right intimidation tactics then…

"What is wrong with you I wonder," The boy hesitated for a second, "I mean, you have no real friends. Just people scared into doing what you want. The only person your age who seems to actually care about you is a fanatic who terrifies you. Maybe you're just a freak who is incapable of loving or being loved…"

A silver blur rushing towards his face was the only warning he got, before a massive metal water pipe was buried right where his head had been. He stared surprised. He hadn't expected the kid to try to kill him. He dodged desperately as the swings becoming faster and more vicious than before,

Naruto's face was open for the first time, a desperate, angry and lonely expression on his face. Wild eyes wide in hurt and fear, they were the eyes of an extremely young child pushed way past their breaking point…

"Закройте вверх! Вы не знаете что-нибыдь о мне! Вы никогда имели ненависть людей вы и не желаете вам умерших в месте вы должны быть безопасны внутри! Вы никогда не имели каждое принять прочь все котором вы заботите о! Моя вся жизнь я один и отчаянный! Как может кто-то полюбить вы или он понимает чего я до конца? Вы всегда имели поддержку и помогаете! Я имел никто всегда! Она не справедлива, оно как раз не справедлива…" Naruto screamed at him, voice desperate and full of anger and hurt, fading into confusion and sadness. Eventually collapsing and sobbing out the last line, his hands covering his face.

Kakashi cursed silently, he had no idea what the boy said but judging from the way he spoke, he could guess it would've told him everything he needed to know about what was wrong and how he could help. He exchanged a helpless glance with Sasuke, who had arrived with Sakura just in time to see Naruto break down.

Naruto hated himself for crying, but it just hurt so much. To have everything he had done wrong thrown in his face like that. He just didn't know how to do things differently and it hurt so much to have no-one truly care for him. He felt so empty and cold inside and didn't know how to break free.

A hand landed on his shoulder, blinking he looked up to see Sakura watching him with a soft expression in her eyes. He couldn't understand why she was there.

"It's okay to get upset Naruto, just let it out alright? Bottling things up is damaging for your health. Anytime you hurt come and see me, I'll try to help you. I'll be your big sister from now on." Naruto felt a surge of warmth at the words. Unable to contain himself, he grabbed the pink haired girl in a bear hug, still crying slightly. Finally, someone he could go to when he needed to. Someone who would help him when he was in trouble. It felt nice, having a big sister to look out for him.

Yes, big sister felt just about right. He could love Sakura as a sister. She could be his adopted family. More than a comrade, someone special in his heart…

Sasuke frowned, annoyed. Somehow, the irritating fangirl had done what no one else had and gotten through to Naruto. He couldn't tell what was said between the two, but the way Naruto grabbed her in a bear hug was a pretty positive indication.

"Considering Naruto just broke down this probably isn't the best time to announce this but you pass!"

Three incredulous stares and Kakashi could swear Sakura was glaring at him for being insensitive to Naruto's breakdown. Oh God, an over-protective self-proclaimed big sister to add to his team. Joy…

Oh fuck, how was he going to explain what happened to the Hokage. Although, Sakura would probably provide protection from Ino for Naruto, which could only be good.

"Congratulations on passing, tomorrow we'll start on missions. Until then, kiddies."

With that he left to let Naruto adjust to having a sister in his life.

The report had gone well until he described what had happened to Naruto and Sakura's on the spot decision to become his big sister.

There was a long pause.

"Are you telling us that not only did the Jinchuriki start screaming in gibberish, but he broke down and the Haruno girl decided to become his big sister?"

"Yup!"

"Wow, you have one fucked up team Kakashi…"

"Thank you Asuma."

"I am delighted my rival has discovered a youthful team! But I must ask Kakashi, you said your pupil was unusually strong and fast with no true taijustsu style?"

"Yes, Gai."

"This is wonderful! He can provide a most youthful challenge for my delightfully youthful and determined student!"

"Uh huh, sure Gai."

"Damn your hip attitude Kakashi!"

Naruto sneezed. Was someone talking about him? Never mind that, he was enjoying having someone care about him without being scared of him. Kiba didn't count. He wasn't a comrade.

"Are you all right Naruto? If you're catching a cold, you should go home and rest up. You don't want to be sick in our profession…"

Yes, Naruto loved his new sister but he didn't really like the way she was fussing over him constantly. He had never been sick in his life and he doubted he would start now.

"Nyet. I am fine." He responded to her question.

"Nyet?" she asked, trying hard to pronounce it the same way he did. Her accent was off but it was commendable for her first try.

"No."

"Ah…"

Naruto listened with half an ear as Sakura babbled about missions. He wasn't looking forward to them. He had learnt about the type of thing from other genins when he was about six.

Not they had told him, but it was amazing the type of things a six year old with super hearing could find out whilst hiding in places they shouldn't be in for that specific reason…

Okay, he had been a badly behaved child, so what? Information was power after all and if he had to break into places and eavesdrop on private conversations to be strong enough to lead Mother Konoha into a new age of prosperity so be it…

He bade goodnight to his sister and headed home. Ready to go to bed. He was usually pretty resilient but having an almost full scale taijustsu battle with a jonin, an emotional breakdown and gaining a sister was pretty fatiguing.

The sun rose bright and early the next morning and Sasuke was the only one waiting for an absurdly long time seeing as the other two had learnt that Kakashi would never be on time so there was no point in coming early. Sasuke had apparently chosen not to learn this lesson.

When the other three finally turned up, he rolled his eyes at the identical lame excuses for their lateness and demanded that they go to get a mission immediately because he was fucking bored damn it and he wanted to do something more interesting than standing around not really doing anything.

Naruto, Kakashi and Sarutobi giggled inwardly at the expressions on Sasuke's and Sakura's faces. It really would be worth becoming a teacher just to see those expressions again, reflected Naruto, lamenting not bringing a camera. He would have loved a picture of those faces to put on a wall in his apartment.

Now onto the missions, he could handle them. After all, it was just a matter of patience. Soon he would be doing big things to help Mother Konoha…

Naruto cursed as the blasted cat slipped from literally his fingers. This was the most exasperating mission of all. He had been selected to catch Tora for the first time ever, despite his team having done this mission so many times before. Not that finding Tora was bad or anything but fuck, he hated seeing the poor thing get crushed by its owner. He _liked _cats. Come to think of it, it was his birthday soon. Not that anyone would really care aside from Sakura.

He gave the cat a pleading look. Come on, he thought, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure you go home and are safe from the outside world and its predators. The cat tilted its head, before stepping neatly forward and curling in between his arms. He stood up slowly, picking Tora up gently and cradling her in his arms in a way he instinctively knew was most comforting and secure for cats. Like he'd had a cat before.

On the way back, Tora leapt out of his arms and sprinted under a log. Beckoning with her tail for him to follow. Dropping to his stomach, Naruto was surprised to see a batch of kittens cradled inside a nest within. Well, that certainly explained why Tora had been running away so much recently. Lifting up the log, he gently stroked the kittens, sending a message to his team.

Naruto smiled at the box full of cats as he walked into the tower and Kakashi explained the whole situation to the Hokage and Fire Daimyo's wife, also known as Tora's owner. The woman was naturally delighted at the discovery of the kittens, even though they were old enough to be separated from their mother.

She insisted on taking Team Seven out to have tea to celebrate, Naruto sitting neatly at the table, listening politely to the lady's expressions of gratitude only to blink in surprise as he felt Tora lean her paws on his legs. They all looked to see what the cat wanted. Only for her to drop one of the kittens on Naruto's lap.

It was a dark silvery-grey colour with long fur and reddish patches on its ears and tail and what looked to be a fairly stocky build. Naruto loved it instantly.

"Well, Tora seems to have picked you to be the owner of one of her kittens. This is wonderful! I must insist you take care of him!"

"Of course." Naruto agreed, delighted. He had always wanted a pet cat.

Sakura beamed at him, she knew how much he liked cats. Sasuke snorted, obviously bored and wanting to go home. Kakashi decided to dismiss the trio before things got out of hand.

Sasuke growled, frustrated as he went home after another week of missions. He wanted a proper mission not these stupid chores. He was an Uchiha damn it! He was above this.

"You know, if you are so frustrated about this you could talk to me and Sakura, da?"

Sasuke froze. That bastard had done it again. He'd just looked at him and responded to his thoughts! He didn't trust Naruto because Naruto already knew everything about him. There was nothing to trust him with.

"I suppose if you are as frustrated as you are, it would be beneficial for me to try to persuade the Hokage to give us a slightly higher mission. After all, comrades should help one another, da?"

On the other hand, maybe Naruto wasn't so bad. If he was willing to go to lengths to help Sasuke out, well he'd been taught never to look a gift horse in the mouth…

"That would be appreciated." He stated finally turning round to face his other male teammate.

The boy beamed at him, "Wonderful! Don't worry about anything tomorrow. I will take care of it, da?"

Sasuke nodded in response, watching as the Naruto turned on his heels and walked away, moving so swiftly that the ends of his scarf fluttered out behind him. Much as Sasuke hated to admit, Naruto was better at getting the things he wanted. Whether immaterial or not and it definitely didn't matter if they were legal to the scarfed boy. His methods were sometimes pretty harsh but Sasuke could respect someone who knew how to get what they wanted when they wanted it. Maybe a partnership with the strange boy would be beneficial for him. After all, not even Uchiha's could get past the law for some things. Naruto could get him the things he wanted that weren't exactly legal, of that he was sure…

Sarutobi smiled as Team Seven came through the door. They were quickly becoming one of his favourite teams. They got missions done so much more quickly and effectively than the others. Namely because they didn't complain as much.

"Hokage-sama" Naruto started, "My team and I were wondering when we may be able to get a higher mission. We believe that it would be more beneficial to us if we were to get real life experience of battles and clients and that our teamwork is sufficient for us to go. Besides Kakashi would be there so things could hardly get out of hand. It would also make things easier on us when the Chunin Exams come around soon also, da?"

If it had been any other genin, Sarutobi was sure it would have sounded like a whiny brat complaining about the missions. But Naruto had always been so democratic and diplomatic when making requests. Using words and reasons that highlight why it would be an advantage for him to do as he wanted and ignoring the reasons that didn't. It was this alone that made Sarutobi certain that if the kid ever went into politics, he could rule the world.

Really, when the request was worded like that, how could he refuse? It was perfectly mature, sensible and polite with good reasons and he had honestly forgotten that the rookie teams would need some preparations for the Exams if they were to do them. He grinned inwardly, Naruto, you are one of the sneakiest and most manipulative thirteen year olds I have ever met…

"Very well. How about this one, an escort mission?'

"Fine."

The client was ushered in. A drunken man with a beard, perfect. Thought Naruto.

"These are the brats that are guarding me? They don't look like-Holy fuck! How big is that kid? Are you sure they're all the same age?"  
>Naruto flushed as there were several snickers. It really wasn't his fault that he was so tall. Blame genetics. Ahhh, how he loved that word. You could blame so much of your physicality's on it.<p>

"Oh wait, no. I can see his baby face. The height just threw me."

Naruto flushed even darker as the snickers got louder. He also couldn't help that he had such a round 'baby face' despite how much he worked out, it just stayed there. Making him look like a giant five year old. Stupid genetics, giving him pudgy cheeks.

"Alright, I'm the super architect Tazuna! I expect you all to keep me safe until I finish building my super bridge! Any questions?"  
>Naruto raised his hand.<p>

"Am I allowed to bring Takamaki?" he asked.

There was a pause.

"You want to bring your cat?" asked sakura slowly.

"Da."

"Why?"

"Because I want to, da?"

A faint sweatdrop could be seen on the back of everyone's heads. Nobody decided to comment and just let Naruto do what he wanted like always.

**In a country far away**

Russia blinked at the letter he had received in the post. From the Fire Daimyo? What could that man want? He flipped open the letter and started to read.

_Russia, _

_I am aware that it may not be convenient for you but Konoha is holding this year's Chunin Exams. It would be most appreciated if you attended. You would be free to come at any time and preparations will be made for your stay. _

_The other countries that visited will have received letters from the respective Daimyos as well, I'm sure._

_The Fire Daimyo._

Russia considered the request. He vaguely remembered Kushina telling him about the exams. They were brutal, vicious with physical and mental torture and pressure and most people came out crippled, scarred for life or not at all.

Russia grinned. Sounded fun. He stood up and began gathering things to pack. After all, he couldn't refuse such a polite request from the leader of a country he wanted good relations with…

**The return of Russia! Soon, he and Naruto will meet and although Russia will realise who Naruto is pretty quickly because no-one has his colouring, Naruto will just think that Russia is from the same region his dad was. He has no idea what's waiting for him, yet.**

**It is official, I suck at writing fights. Can't be helped I guess. For those of you who couldn't work it out, Takamaki is the equivalent of Russiacat in nekotalia but still different. And Tazuna made the understandable mistake of thinking that Naruto is much older than he really is. **

**Naruto doesn't know what sex is. He knows porn is bad but thinks that it's just a type of rude book. And he is very good at getting what he wants, very, very good... **

**And for the translations cos in the original chapter I uploaded, I forgot about them.**

**Wave mission next chapter and I couldn't be bothered coming up with a stupid farewell so later people.**

Translations:

_Закройте вверх! Вы не знаете что-нибыдь о мне! Вы никогда имели ненависть людей вы и не желаете вам умерших в месте вы должны быть безопасны внутри! Вы никогда не имели каждое принять прочь все котором вы заботите о! Моя вся жизнь я один и отчаянный! Как может кто-то полюбить вы или он понимает чего я до конца? Вы всегда имели поддержку и помогаете! Я имел никто всегда! Она не справедлива, оно как раз не справедлива… -_ Shut up! You don't know anything about me! You've never had people hate you and wish you dead in a place you should be safe in! You've never had everyone take away everything that you care about! My entire life I've been alone and desperate! How can someone like you or him understand what I've been through? You've always had support and help! I've had no-one ever! It's not fair; it's just not fair...


	6. Sneaky Sisters and Crossdressing Enemies

**So, Naruto has a pet cat now. Just so you know, Takamaki is **_**just **_**a pet and companion. He will not be doing any fighting at Naruto's side. Do you see any of the nekotalia characters fighting alongside their owners in Hetalia? No. So Takamaki who will probably by the equivalent of Konohacat, if only because Hi no Kunicat is too difficult to say. Hell, I may actually make Naruto Hi no Kuni with Konoha as his name in battle. I probably won't sort it out til the sequel though. **

**Yes, I will make a sequel based around the time of Shippuden that will have lots and lots of countries in it hopefully. So that should make some people happy, I guess. For purposes of simplicity and to save me time, any Russian spoken will be in italics. Same for any of the countries and their children with their national language. For the purposes of this story, let's just pretend the elemental countries have a different language and the countries use translating spells or jutsus or something.**

**Just wanted to say, thank you for all the positive reviews. I knew it was a new idea but I was pretty sure a fair amount of people wouldn't like it. So, having so many people enjoy my story makes me feel happy that I can interest people at least. Whether they actually find anything funny is another matter, although I'm not exactly trying to be funny all the time. I was surprised to see in the first review that someone thought that something I wrote was witty. It may have something to do with growing up with two comedic brothers but I was always under the impression that I wasn't particularly funny. **

**But the genre isn't humour so I think I'm safe. It also isn't romance, so anyone hoping for serious relationships is probably going to be disappointed. Personally, I think I would suck at romance stories. So I'll stick to mainly fantasy and what if stories.**

**Disclaimer: No, I still don't own anything. Stupid plot didn't work. Back to the drawing board…**

Naruto shifted from foot to foot outside the gates. He had known that today was not a day to come late and had arrived early. He was eager to see what was outside Konoha. He loved the village but he had been stuck inside it for thirteen years and wanted to know what the rest of the country was like.

Takamaki, affectionately nicknamed 'Tak' by Sakura and Kakashi and 'annoying nuisance' by Sasuke, earning a near miss with the pipe courtesy of Naruto, meowed inquisitively, looking around at his surroundings. He had been born in the forest and spent the last week or so in Naruto's apartment and as such was just as intrigued by the area outside of Konoha as Naruto was.

This was one of the reasons Naruto had wanted to bring Tak with him. The main one being that Naruto didn't trust the village enough to leave his beloved pet cat behind. He loved the kitten to death. It was the only thing that had cared about him instantly and not given a damn about how he was different from everyone else. Plus, he loved cats. A lot.

Finally, Sasuke arrived and nearly had a heart attack at seeing the pale boy not only early but arriving before him. He had gotten used to having three hours of sitting around by himself and not having to deal with anyone. Still, considering that it was Naruto, he doubted he would need to do much interaction.

"_So, Tak, are you looking forward to seeing outside Konoha?_" Asked Naruto.

Tak meowed in response.

"_That's good. I've never been outside either. I wonder what the rest of Hi no Kuni is like_."

Sasuke put up with Naruto's babbling to his cat in what sounded like gibberish to him for another twenty minutes before he got bored and decided to alert his teammate to his presence.

"Hey dobe. You're speaking in gibberish again."

Naruto turned around and shot him an annoyed look.

"_I am not a dobe, you annoying, pompous idiot who can't even understand the basics of camaraderie and can't even tell that his brother was obviously working for someone when he killed your family and left you, his younger brother alive to keep the family name clean. Obviously your brother put you through what he did so you would have motivation to work hard without your parents."  
><em>Sasuke couldn't understand what Naruto was saying but could tell from the tone that he was being insulting and condescending.

Sasuke bristled, Naruto watched idly. Slightly amused although mostly irritated that once again Sasuke had reacted as predicted. Honestly, you would think he'd have learnt by now that Naruto only did things to him for the reaction. Well, that and to piss him off like he pissed off Naruto. Like reparation, even if Sasuke wasn't aware that his attitude pissed Naruto off. Also, Naruto enjoyed seeing the expressions and colours his face turned whenever you insulted him. In fact, Naruto just enjoyed making Sasuke's life a misery for his own entertainment.

Sasuke prepared to remind the 'clanless loser' exactly who he was talking to when Tak started hissing, giving Sasuke the most horrifyingly embarrassing, superior and condescending look he had ever seen. Sasuke gave up, if even the cats were going to get on his case then that was their problem. They could be losers like the rest of the village. He was an Uchiha damn it and that meant he was the best! The thought that people didn't like him and lectured him because they cared about him and he was doing things the wrong way never even crossed his mind. Neither did the thought of what it would be like to live in someone else's life.

"Tak, stop making an enemy out of your teammates." Drawled Kakashi, having just arrived with Sakura and Tazuna in tow.

Tak, despite liking Kakashi, ignored him and continued to hiss and spit at the Uchiha. He liked Sakura and Kakashi but due to Naruto always speaking to him in Russian, that was the only language he recognised.

Sakura threw Naruto a pleading look. The violet eyed boy sighed slightly.

"_Tak, that's enough. You can stop now. It wouldn't do to alienate our comrades, yes?" _

The kitten shot Naruto a slightly pleading look before stopping his hissing and beginning to groom himself. A look of what almost appeared to be faint disappointment in his eyes.

Tazuna looked slightly disturbed at how human-like the cat acted but figured since the rest of the team acted like it was normal that it was fairly regular behaviour. Even if he had never seen a cat act like that. Then again, the cat _did _belong to Uzumaki Naruto…

Which really, when you thought about, explained _a lot_.

Naruto bounced on his heels slightly, well aware he probably looked like a hyper four year old, a freakishly tall four year old, and looking rather desperate to leave. He really wanted to see more of the world and the fact that currently he had to wait was driving him crazy.

Kakashi watched lazily before declaring that finally they could leave. Seeing Naruto about to burst and wanting to get him back for the bell test, he added _after_ he had checked their equipment.

The disappointed look in Naruto's eyes made him feel vaguely guilty. Like he had kicked a puppy just because it was there.

He looked through the bags quickly, somewhat disappointed at Sakura's insistence on hair care products and clothes and disturbed at the fact that a fair amount of them looked to be for boys. He mentioned this to her, but she mentioned something about being prepared in case she needed to 'make little Naruto look even more adorable,' Kakashi didn't really get what she meant, but the horrified expression on the boy's face made him pretty sure he didn't want to.

He was somewhat surprised at the sheer amount of weaponry the Uchiha boy was bringing with him. One would think that he was about to fight an army by himself. Or that he was going to arm a group of about thirty. He decided not to mention the ridiculous amount of tomatoes provided as food. If the boy wanted to not develop properly that was his problem. Come to think of it, wasn't Sasuke one of the shorter boys in the class? Not having a mother there to explain why he needed to eat healthily might be more damaging than was originally thought.

Naruto's bag had him nodding in approval. Water, rations, ninja wire, scrolls, storage scrolls, just enough weapons to last him a month or so with replacements, all in exactly the right proportions to one another. It was like the boy had been on extended missions before and knew exactly what he was going to need. Actually, he had noticed that recently, the way the boy sometimes claimed to have never done something before but when he tried it did it was like he had had hundreds of years of practice. The only thing that really worried him at all was that Naruto was bringing knitting with him. With what appeared to be a half-finished scarf. It was a well-made scarf true but well, to each his own, Kakashi guessed. After all, to most women reading porn was discouraged. So maybe it was the same principle with men and knitting.

He rezipped Naruto's bag and smiled.

"Well, I guess we're ready to go!"

**In the Hokage's office**

The Hokage sighed. It had been a long day. But he had to admit, seeing something like yesterday was a high point to the job. The expressions on everyone's faces after Naruto asked to bring his cat had been hilarious. He had known there was no way Naruto would leave Tak behind.

He frowned as a letter came through from his secretary. He felt like groaning when he saw it was from the Daimyo. Probably about Naruto, _again_. He got that the boy was important politically but having to write once a week at least that Naruto was healthy and well and doing fantastically academically was a real chore.

He flipped it open.

_Sarutobi, _

_I appreciate that right now is a difficult time as you are preparing for the Chunin Exams. I felt I should warn you that Russia will most likely be visiting for them. If you're wondering how I know this, I sent him an invite. After all, it wouldn't be fair to exclude him merely because he lives further away, no? Anyway, the other countries were probably invited as well but that's not as important._

_It would be much appreciated if you could provide Russia with a guide. I'm sure he would appreciate someone who knows their way around Konoha like the back of their hand showing him around. Preferably a shinobi, after all, we wouldn't want him getting into trouble would we? He can be as bad as Naruto sometimes…_

_Speaking of Naruto, how is the little boy? My wife was rather taken with him. Went on and on about what a little darling he was and how she was so grateful that he had found her precious Tora's kittens. Finding homes for them has been marvellous fun. An update would be much appreciated._

_The Fire Daimyo._

Sarutobi wanted to slam his head against the desk. Countries coming to Konoha? Not good. Naruto, a 'little darling'? The Daimyo's wife must be deluded. Russia needing a guide and someone to keep him out of trouble? Worst news in the history of the world. Maybe he should test candidates on Naruto. The two were similar after all.

Wait… Sarutobi grinned evilly, on second thoughts; maybe he knew exactly what to do…

**Back with Team Seven, Tak and Tazuna**

Naruto shivered, someone was thinking about him. He hoped it wasn't Ino. Although considering how obsessed she was… Actually, it was rather depressing how quickly he had adjusted to dodging her and her proposals every day.

He decided not to worry about it and enjoy the sights around him. It made him happy to see sunflowers again. Hi no Kuni had the perfect climate for them. They grew naturally, which made him even happier. Tak watched the world go by from his place in between Naruto's neck and scarf. It was comfortable for him and Naruto didn't really mind.

"_Enjoying yourself Tak?"_ Asked Naruto, automatically slipping into the language he usually used when talking to Tak. The members of Team Seven ignored him, used to it whilst Tazuna threw him a rather disturbed look.

Tak meowed in response, twisting his head to see everything he could. He had always understood what Naruto was saying and Naruto could understand what most of his meows meant. Tak couldn't actually talk to Naruto but he could send basic telepathic signals along with his meows so that Naruto got the jist of it.

Tak loved Naruto. Completely. He had been the one to convince his mother to give him to Naruto. He had felt a connection to Naruto as soon as the log was lifted and he had seen Naruto for the first time. He would do anything for Naruto and would go everywhere with him. He was determined about that.

"_See those flowers over there Tak?" _Tak twisted his head to get a better look, _"They're sunflowers. My favourite flower in the world. They're our national flower but Konoha doesn't grow them anymore because of a mistake I made when I was four. I missed seeing them. They are the most beautiful plants in the world."_

Tak felt sad that Naruto couldn't see his flowers because of one mistake. Looking at them properly he could see why Naruto loved them as much as he did. They were vibrant and alive, a testimony to the perfect weather of Hi no Kuni.

"Like sunflowers do ya kid?" Kitten and boy turned their heads toward the bridge builder. "They're my favourite." Naruto responded quietly.

"Can't say I blame ya. They're amazing flowers. Almost alive as they turn to the sun. I was quite surprised that there weren't any in Konoha, place used to be famous for them. Had some of the best in the world. Heard that some foreign diplomat came all the way to see them once,"

Kakashi stopped midstride and turned to look at Naruto, an expression of horrified realisation spreading across his visible features. Clearly he had just figured something out.

"Um, is something wrong Kakashi?" Tazuna asked, finally stopping his ramblings.

Kakashi swallowed, "No, everything's fine."

Kakashi felt like an idiot, he should have noticed way beforehand. He knew who Naruto reminded him of. The guy had been dating his sensei's best friend for god's sake! It was all starting to make one horrifically clear picture in his mind. When the man came back to Konoha, he may have to defect cos no way was he going to get caught up in that shit.

He could even understand why the Hokage hadn't told anyone. This was a major political mess. If someone like Danzo had known, it would have been a disaster. Still, at least this explained why Naruto was so strange. The man hadn't exactly been normal either…

**After the puddle confrontation which Kakashi dealt with before anyone hurt…**

Naruto hummed contentedly in the boat. He liked water, it was so serene and peaceful. He knew he should probably be paying attention to what Tazuna was saying but he just wasn't interested. He could guess what was happening in the Land of Waves. It wasn't right. Gato reminded him of Stalin and Gato's force reminded him of the KGB. What they were and where they were from wasn't important but he knew what they had done.

Taking what they wanted, when they wanted it and not caring about the good of the people. Yes, Gato reminded him of the communists and he hated thinking about those people. They had disgraced their country and made a horrible reputation for their country that was still trying to be overcome. Any dictator had to be destroyed. When a leader does things for themselves rather than the people, they weren't a leader anymore but a monster.

Naruto didn't understand why he felt so strongly about the whole thing but he hated Gato and firmly believed the world was a better place without him or his thugs. Taking and taking wasn't how you lived. Living was about other people. It wasn't you who controlled if you were born. You owed the world for even existing and that meant your life wasn't yours to dictate. And if you didn't own your own life, what right did you have to control other peoples' lives?

Naruto had decided at a young age to give everything he had to the world because he owed it to everything in existence. He would never stop giving and he never take without giving back twice as much as he gained. He put his blood, sweat and tears into everything he had to try to keep people and the environment safe. He only wanted to lead Konoha to become one with the world so that there would be no more wars and no-one would have to suffer and grow up alone. He wanted to lead Konoha so that everyone was welcome, a place where it didn't matter if you were different because you were human and alive. He didn't care about revenge, what was the point? All you did was hurt people.

The boat bumped into the shore. Tazuna thanked his friend for risking his life to take them across the border. Naruto felt another surge of fury, people had the right to come and go as they liked! Gato had no right to restrict these peoples' freedom!

Kakashi caught sight of the fury. He grinned inwardly, he was pretty sure Naruto was angry for the right reasons. Gato wouldn't know what had hit him.

Tak, sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. Something was wrong. He mewed a quiet warning to Naruto.

"_I understand."_ Naruto breathed back.

Naruto kept alert. He knew that if Tak could smell something wrong, there would probably be an enemy nearby. He heard the faint swishing noise and prepared to bring his comrades down, trusting Kakashi to look after the client. Naruto could only knock down two people at the most.

By the time the jonin yelled to duck, Naruto was already barrelling into his teammates. The blade of the gigantic sword spinning over two feet above their heads. Kakashi and the client were much closer to being decapitated.

Naruto watched the man on the sword warily. He could read in the line of the man's body that he was experienced and on at least the same level as Kakashi. Still with Naruto around, things would hardly be too dangerous.

The man revealed himself as Zabuza and Naruto's confidence wavered slightly. Still, Kakashi had an ace up his sleeve. Probably.

Naruto was proven right as Kakashi revealed he had a Sharingan. Whilst his teammates expressed their confusion, Naruto was studying his teacher. He could see that the Sharingan was a memory of someone close to Kakashi. A best friend lost in war perhaps? Come to think of it, he remembered reading about an Uchiha that was killed in a mission in the third shinobi war that had been in Namikaze Minato's team, the team Kakashi had been part of. That must have been the Uchiha's eye. This made Naruto happy but sad at the same time. There had been a decent Uchiha once apparently but he was gone now…

Zabuza, apparently done talking trash, vanished. Naruto made a quick mental calculation. Zabuza, member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Mist, Water Techniques, Water source, Pond behind him, Silent Killing, obscure sight and mess with hearing. Result – Zabuza had moved behind them onto the pond for a water source for a jutsu to obscure their vision and make it easier to use his silent killing sword techniques on them.

The entire process took three seconds and whilst everyone else was still realising that Zabuza was out of sight, Naruto was charging the Rogue Ninja who seemed surprised someone had worked out where he had gone.

Naruto ignored his teammates' shouts of surprise. He would need to concentrate fully. He felt time slow down like it had when he was four, this time he stayed aware of his surroundings. He moved fluidly out of the way of the first swing and bent backwards to avoid the backhanded swing.

Up, down, lean left, jump back, take four steps to the right, duck, and flip half a metre diagonally back and left… He_ could_ do this.

Zabuza grinned. This kid was good. He could keep up with his strokes. He decided to step things up a notch.

The swings became faster and more coordinated. Naruto could be in trouble. **Tch, looks like I finally need to get involved. Open yourself up kid…**Naruto was fully concentrated on dodging. This guy was fast!

The sword swiped his shoulder and he yelled with pain. He glared at the grinning swordsman and growled. He wanted to hurt the man now and _badly…_

Zabuza grinned and created several water clones, sending them to attack the other rookies. Naruto sent one last look of hate towards the Mist Shinobi before going to help his teammates.

Kakashi soon took Naruto's place. He needed to keep his students safe and make sure none of them died. He owed it to Obito and Kushina…

Naruto pushed Sakura out of the way and cursed. He should be helping his teacher. But he also needed to keep his teammates safe. He heard a faint disbelieving gasp and a muttered curse from Sakura and Sasuke respectively.

He looked past the clone and saw Kakashi trapped in a sphere of water with severe injuries. Zabuza laughing and declaring how he was going to use Kakashi's bounty to fund a new attack on the Mist. Naruto felt himself fill with pure fury and hate. No way was he going to lose anyone else he cared about! Not ever again…

Zabuza laughed, it had been so easy! His laughter cut short as a piece of ice slammed into his gut. He landed on his back on the water. What was Haku playing at? He looked for the young boy and saw the tall pale boy he had fought earlier charging at him and he reacted instinctively.

He brought up his sword and blocked. He saw a faint silver blur and felt something slam heavily straight into the flat of it. It sent him skidding back at least three feet. He looked at the boy and saw him carrying a…water pipe? The hell? He stopped thinking about it as he was charged again.

The boy's eyes were wild and filled with fury. He swing furiously and all Zabuza could do was block, feeling his blade shudder each time. How strong was this kid?

"I! Will! Not! Lose! Anyone! Else! I! Care! About! Ever! Again!" the boy screamed, punctuating each word with a ridiculously powerful blow that Zabuza could feel dent his blade.

Despite this, he couldn't help but feel slightly bad about attacking the kid's teacher. He could see the same look in the boy's eyes that had been in Haku's. This kid had been hated and ignored, wished dead and excluded for something that wasn't his fault. Apparently Konoha was as bad the Mist in that respect, maybe worse.

He decided this had gone far enough and fled the scene before the kid tried to kill him. He knew they would meet again. Maybe he should get Haku to meet the boy, what was his name, Uzumaki Naruto? Sounded about right. He was a little unhinged for an Uzumaki though. But then again, clearly his father had been foreign.

Naruto blinked, breathing heavily as he came down from his anger. He felt the energy driving him flee and fell through the surface of the lake. When he finally managed to swim to the shore, he saw Sakura fussing over Kakashi who had passed out from Chakra exhaustion and severe blood loss. She took one look at Naruto and squealed.

Naruto didn't understand why she was so happy until he realised that his clothes were soaked and he had no spares. And the only clothes his size were the ones Sakura had brought. His face paled, Oh God…

Sakura hummed; delighted at finally getting Naruto to dress as a normal teen. She looked back and grinned, pleased with herself. In the place of the usual trench coat, scarf, trousers, boots and God knows what else, Naruto was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a cream coloured turtle neck jumper with purple and silver snowflake designs on it and a pair of grey converse. The civilian clothes really suited him, with his blonde hair, pale skin, purple eyes, immense height and muscular build, he looked like a model rather than a shinobi.

The fact that he looked awkward and embarrassed with the faintest tinge of pink on his cheeks at the stares he was getting just completed it. And the best part was that Sakura had his 'Shinobi clothes' so unless they had training or were going to fight then Sakura got to dress up Naruto in the most adorable clothes and make him live up to his potential. She had already taken pictures and would continue to do so.

She loved how adorable her little brother was. It was so disappointing that he wore military clothes all the time. Especially when he looked so cute in the clothes she picked out for him! Oh yes, she was totally getting him a civilian wardrobe for Christmas and guilting him into wearing it when not on duty, the clothes he had now were an early birthday present. After all, she was his big sister, why wouldn't he wear clothes she picked out to suit him?

Maybe she could find a guy with good taste in clothes to help her! After all, she only knew the basics of fashion.

Naruto hated when Sakura dressed him up. He hated the way people stared at him. But she was his big sister and he loved her, he just wished it wasn't so damn hard to say no to her and that she wasn't so crafty at getting him to wear the clothes she picked out.

He liked them sure but people stared less when he wore his shinobi stuff. Naruto did not like being the centre of attention. The fact that Tak had purred nonstop throughout his change and was still so fucking happy felt like a major betrayal. But he couldn't make himself hate either of them.

Tak purred, Naruto looked nice and should be happy to get to act like a normal teen. That was what Naruto wanted right? The only downside was that Naruto wasn't wearing a scarf but the turtle neck was secure enough to hold him. After all, he was still small. He knew Naruto could feel the vibrations of his purr and Naruto was ticklish at the neck. Maybe he could get Naruto to smile. That would be nice, Naruto never truly smiled a full smile and that made him sad. Naruto should be happy more often. He would do that for Naruto.

Tazuna snorted at Naruto's predicament. The boy wouldn't believe any of them when they said he looked good. The kid seemed to think his height and build were bad. Tazuna shook his head sadly, it was a sad, sad day when a good looking lad didn't even realise his natural attractiveness. He had to admit though, the kid cleaned up well and actually looked his age for once. Most people thought he was older because of his height and then thought he was younger because of his baby face.

Sasuke couldn't believe how well Naruto cleaned up. It wasn't fair! Uchiha were supposed to be the best! They were the smartest, the strongest, the most talented, the most noble, the most enviable and definitely the best looking! It wasn't fair…How come he couldn't be so tall and strong, with a well-built body with long legs and a slim abdomen?

Stupid genetics. Why did a clanless loser have everything he wanted in a body? He had never even realised that Uzumaki was well built. He always figured the guy had a bad figure and was fat because he had such round cheeks and always wore a damned trench coat that covered everything…

Finally, Tazuna announced their arrival. It was a nice enough house and Naruto was sure beyond doubt that Tazuna had designed it himself. They were introduced to Inari and his mother. They got medical attention for Kakashi and ate dinner. They then went to bed and hoped Kakashi would be better in the morning…

Kakashi blinked open his eyes. His whole body hurt and he wanted to go back to sleep but he was hungry. So he levered himself up, pleased that no bones were broken. He limped down the stairs just in time to see Naruto bringing a load of shopping with a young woman but it wasn't Naruto like he knew him…

"Wow…"

Naruto's head jerked up at the sound of his teacher's voice, his face flushing slightly. Sakura had picked out another outfit for him. This time he was wearing a silvery pair of jeans, a violet t-shirt with a snowflake design on the front in silver, a grey zip up hoodie left open and a pair of white converse with the end of the jeans tucked into the top of them.

Kakashi looked impressed. He began to understand why Sakura had brought the clothes. They suited Naruto and it was nice to see him out of the military clothes and he should be able to move around just fine.

"You should wear civilian clothes more often, Naruto."  
>Naruto flushed darker. He really didn't see what was wrong with his Shinobi stuff but everyone told him to wear this stuff in his free time. Sakura would have to pick the stuff out though.<p>

"I am going to go for a walk." He announced, needing to get out by himself.

"Fine, fine." Kakashi waved dismissively.

Naruto practically sprinted out the door. Thank God there was a forest outside. He was pretty sure Sakura had found auto-cleaning seals so he couldn't even get the clothes dirty to get out of them as they would clean by themselves.

He wandered around not really noticing where he was going and bumped into someone. He blinked staring at the guy he bumped into. The guy had long hair tied in a really girly way, and was wearing pink female clothes. Poland, murmured the small part at the back of his brain. He ignored it.

"Oh my God! That is such an awesome outfit, like, where did you get it? I mean I like, totally couldn't wear it but I've been like, telling my friend he should totally change his style and like, are you okay?"

Blinking and slightly dazed Naruto managed to respond, "Da, I mean yes."

"That is like, totally good. I would hate to have to like, be a doctor but like, nurses have like, totally cute outfits!"

Naruto began to edge away slowly, he really didn't want to be near someone like this.

"My name is like, totally Haku. Like, nice to meet you."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"You're like, totally cute you know that right?"

Naruto felt like running away now. He had never had a guy openly express they were into him. He wasn't entirely sure how to react.

"I need to be getting back now. I don't want my friends to worry."

"Do you like, have anybody totally super close to you?"

"What?"

"Because I like, totally think that your precious people are worth more than anything and you should keep them safe from harm no matter what."

Naruto blinked, he could respect that. Now that he thought about it, it made sense in a way he had never understood before. He had made people fear him so they would stay close and not hurt him again but in the process hurt them. If they were important to him, he should keep them safe not terrify and hurt them.

Belatedly he remembered the other part of what the Hokage told him only a few months before the sunflower incident, _'But remember Naruto, fear is never the best way to earn someone's heart.'_ He had been a fool to forget that. Okay! From now on he would try to earn people's respect and love instead of forcing it!

"Thank you Haku."

"Like, no problem."

Haku watched Naruto run back through the forest he had come through and felt a surge of happiness. Zabuza was right, Naruto was like him and he had seen the light come back in the younger boy's eyes as he made a decision for good about the people he cared for. He hoped he wouldn't have to hurt Naruto, the boy really was cute even in the big coat and scarf that he obviously used for fighting in.

He would have to talk to whoever picked out the outfits though. Whilst they did look good on Naruto, there were a whole load of styles and colours that Naruto look totally hot in. There was so much potential there, appearance wise.

**So yeah, we have Poland!Haku, but in order for that to work, he will probably have to live. After all, Sakura can't dress Naruto up fashionably without an expert right? Besides, it would be good for Naruto…Maybe…Possibly…**

**Battle at the bridge next chapter. I actually was going to do it this chapter but I kinda decided this was a good length for finishing. Plus, I have been having urges to dress up Naruto in Civilian clothes for ages. Cos in this he is one good looking guy. Plus I find the idea of a Russia like in appearance Naruto in a snowflake jumper of any kind adorable.**

**And Sasuke is jealous of Naruto's build but then again, when you inbred you just dilute the gene pool. Plus, Sasuke is gay enough to notice those things in a boy and actually think about them.**

**And Sakura is totally sneaky enough to do something like that. I've noticed in the last chapter or so that I don't really have much dialogue. I get the feeling this has more to do with the point of view being like the characters talking to you except without breaking the fourth wall.**

**Before anyone complains, the confrontation with the first mist ninja was mainly set out to show Naruto's determination to not be shown up again and his willingness to hurt himself for another's safety. Naruto in this doesn't really need to do that so the scene wasn't really necessary.**

**Tak completely loves Naruto, you'll notice that when it's his point of view he uses Naruto's name constantly. That's cause he thinks about Naruto constantly and always uses his name. Kinda like when you're talking about a family member or someone you really care about, you use their names more often than 'he' or 'she'.**

**Tak is a special cat. I don't know how but he has magic telepathic super powers that will eventually allow him to communicate with Naruto properly. And just so you know, Sakura won't be giving Naruto his Shinobi stuff back until they get back to Konoha at the very earliest. All the civilian clothes have been reinforced so that they can last in battle. Russia will definitely be meeting Naruto when he is dressed like a civilian.**

**And Sakura **_**will**_** guilt trip Naruto into wearing a whole load of civilian clothes she and Haku pick out because at the end of the day, she is Naruto's big sister and big sisters love to dress up their little siblings. She does think Naruto is adorable and wants to do big sister things with him. In her own way, she scares Naruto as much as Ino does. **

**In terms of the scarf in Naruto's pack, anyone who saw Paint It, White and paused it to see what Russia was doing at the start of the meeting would know that he was actually knitting a scarf. Granted that may have just been me who wanted to find out but he really is knitting. You can check for yourself if you want.**

**Naruto knows enough of Russia's history to know about the bad guys in it. Even if he doesn't actually know where the history is from. I'm pretty sure he would be opposed to any kind of dictatorship. **

**Naruto is also a really giving person. The whole giving back thing is part of his mum surfacing for once and it is a good part of her to have. Also, about the whole calculation before battle part. Naruto is **_**not human.**_** So far the only reason he has kept up against high level opponents is because of his natural advantages but mainly cos he trained his ass off. In an extended battle with a level headed person, unless he could think it through he would lose. Also, the two times he's unbalanced a jonin, he was pissed beyond belief, as such he would be doing things instinctively, including drawing on the Kyuubi's power, unleashing just enough of an aura to unnerve and off balance his opponent. Without that he would get creamed.**

**That's all I can think of that needs addressing. Cheerio people!**


	7. Awesome Pets,Russian Food and Bad Habits

**Hey guys! Sorry I took longer than usual to update but life's been a bitch and I've had several assignments I needed to get done in the last week or so. I have a test/exam thing later this week as well so I probably won't update much. **

**Just so you guys know, the connection between Tak and Naruto isn't really going to go beyond feelings and Naruto learning to understand Tak's noises better. Kinda like Kiba and Akamaru. That's it. And when I said that Sakura wouldn't **_**give**_** Naruto his uniform back, that didn't meant that Naruto wouldn't get it back. It just meant that Sakura didn't plan on giving them back.**

**And I am aware that Zabuza fleeing from Naruto was unrealistic but like I said last chapter, Naruto was pissed and channelling the Nine-tails power and his dad's evil 'aura'. That and his unnatural strength through having a country for a parent would make anyone make a tactical retreat.**

**In short, Zabuza fled so he could observe Naruto properly outside of battle and know better how to fight him in case he came up against Naruto later on.**

**Naruto gets to cook this chapter! And it's Russian food and terminology for the meals.**

**Ok, rant over now. Sorry but I felt the need to get those points out to the one reviewer who decided to flame me. But don't worry, I sent the flame to Russia so it's guaranteed to have a good home! **

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own anything. And I wish I was just in denial about it…**

Tak prowled through the empty house. It was dark and he wished he was with Naruto but it was for Naruto he was doing this. As much as he loved the clothes Naruto had been wearing, he could tell that Naruto didn't like being in casual clothes and Naruto had in fact spent a significant amount of time searching the house for his other clothes.

He slipped into the pink haired female's room. Where was the bag? Tak needed the bag to make Naruto happy again. Tak caught sight of something pink. Ah, there was the female, why was her hair so long? It could only get in the way…

A dark shape at the foot of the bed caught Tak's attention. There was the bag! He had been right in assuming that the female brought it out of its hiding place every night. Now to get it back to Naruto's room. Tak sighed mentally. This was going to be a long night.

Naruto was awoken in the morning by a heavy weight on his chest and a rumbling, proud sounding purr in his ear. He blinked his eyes open and looked curiously into his cat's eyes. Tak twitched his tail in the direction of the end of his bed where a set of very familiar clothes lay. Naruto felt his heart stop. God, he loved his cat…

Sakura was disappointed when Naruto came downstairs that morning in his uniform. She had seen her bag opened that morning and known that her dress up time with Naruto was over.

"The hell dobe? How'd you get your clothes back?" Sasuke asked incredulously, he had been certain they would never see the clothes again.

"Tak." Naruto said simply. Like that explained everything. Which sadly, it did.

Damn, now Sasuke wanted a pet like that…

Inari blinked, confused. He had been annoyed at the other kids for daring to think that they could be heroes against Gato. Especially the tall one. He hadn't even looked like a shinobi at all! He looked really girly and acted it as well, talking about sunflowers and knitting and even baking and shopping with his mother the day before! And he had said so to the blonde boy's face. The glare he had got hadn't been very intimidating. Considering he just looked like a regular guy.

But now, on second thoughts, maybe insulting the guy hadn't been the best of ideas. He looked much bigger and scarier now, in the long trench coat, boots and scarf. Although he still gave off a slightly effeminate vibe, wearing pink. He looked like a soldier and his height was really intimidating now. His face had settled into a really creepy little smile and weirdly blank eyes.

Inari wasn't sure which thought was scarier, the idea the boy did it to freak people out and therefore was a sadist or the idea that his face had been like that for so long that it automatically fell into place as soon as he was working. He also seemed to almost be giving off an aura of danger now.

"Oh, good morning Inari! Did you sleep well?"

Shit. Inari froze. The last thing he wanted was to have his presence pointed out to the guy he had insulted. He squeaked quietly and shrank in his seat as the boy's violet eyes narrowed in a glare. Inari could feel the anger radiating off him now. And whilst yesterday it had been funny, today it was terror inducing. Yeah, telling the guy he acted more like a girl really hadn't been the best of ideas…

*Flashback*

_Inari glared at the kids who had arrived the night before. One in particular. The tall boy in jeans, a t-shirt and hoodie, who was currently sitting on the sofa, knitting a scarf. That was just pathetic…_

"_What do you guys think you are?" He demanded._

"_People." The boy responded with a deadpan expression, eliciting snorts and a giggle from his teammates._

_Inari flushed in anger. They guy hadn't given him a proper answer or even looked at him! He glared even harder at the guy who just continued to knit calmly, counting the strokes._

"_Why are you here?" Inari tried again._

"_Because it is our job." The boy replied._

"_So? I bet you guys think you can actually do something don't you?"  
>"Would we be here if we did not?" came the mild reply.<em>

"_What do you guys know about this place anyway? I bet you don't even have any idea how bad it is here!"_

"_We might."  
>"Yeah, as if! You don't even look like a shinobi and you're a fucking girl to boot!"<em>

_The boy stopped and lifted his head to glare at Inari. _

"_What. Did. You. Just. Say?" The boy snarled between gritted teeth._

_Inari ignored the warning looks and head shakes from the other two in the room, delighted at getting a proper response. He laughed under his breath. The boy trying to be intimidating whilst wearing girly clothes and knitting was hilarious._

"_You heard me! What kind of shinobi goes around in civilian clothes? And what kind of guy knits or talks about sunflowers or colour co-ordinates his wardrobe? You're not a shinobi and you're definitely not a proper guy! You're just a fucking girl in disguise pretending to be something!"_

_His piece said, Inari stormed out of the room, not seeing the faint purple aura or hearing the faint 'kolkolkol's coming from the room he had just left._

*Flashback end*

"Come on, Naruto. Stop glaring at the poor kid." Sakura said quietly moving to put her hand on the boy's shoulder, before wincing slightly as she moved her upper arm.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" questioned Kakashi, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sasuke and I just took things a little too far in training yesterday, that's all." Replied Sakura smiling. Though her smile looked slightly shaky to Inari. Like she was worried her teacher wouldn't believe her…

Meanwhile, Sasuke entered the room, limping slightly. Kakashi relaxed slightly. If they were both injured then they really must have taken it too hard the previous day in training. He would have to tell the two of them to take it easy today.

Naruto, he noticed idly, was still glaring ferociously at the young boy. Inari must have said something really bad to work him up that much, he thought, Naruto usually unleashes his annoyance in training and is fine from then on.

Tsunami poked her head around the corner from the kitchen.

"Um, Naruto? Would you mind helping me out again? I would really like to try some of those foods you showed me yesterday again."

Naruto's personality did a magnificent one-eighty that any trick skater or cyclist would be proud of.

"Sure thing!" he exclaimed happily.

There were three simultaneous sighs as Tazuna and Inari stared after Naruto, not used to his somewhat bipolar mood swings. Except in Naruto's case, he tended to get annoyed instead of depressed and seemed almost seemed to have multiple personalities sometimes.

Three minutes later, Tsunami was kicked out of her own kitchen by a completely focused Naruto, who apparently exclaimed that 'Zavtrak is going to be a surprise for everyone today, da!'

Tsunami, understandably was confused as to what was meant by that.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto wandered out of the kitchen carrying a massive bowl of porridge with what looked to be a type of cream and cheese before going back to retrieve what looked like pancakes. Not, that any of them knew what those things were…

No-one was entirely sure how he had managed to find the ingredients he needed for the meal. But knew, like everyone did, to just let Naruto do what he wanted. They just decided to eat the food quickly and found to their surprise that although it didn't look much like stuff they had ever seen before, it tasted really good and helped take the chill of the morning.

"Hey dobe?" Sasuke asked, hesitantly.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"What exactly are these things?"

"Well, the things over there are buckwheat pancakes. And the food in the bowl, is kasha, a type of porridge with sour cream and cheese." (AN: Actual Russian breakfast foods.)

"Hn." Sasuke replied, unsure of what he could really say to that.

"And where did you learn to cook this stuff? Actually, more importantly, where is this food even from?" questioned Kakashi, slightly concerned that Naruto, who was famous for being unable to make even bentos properly, could cook food that Kakashi'd never heard of before so well.

"Don't know." Came the simple reply.

The synchronisation between the other members of Team Seven returned, this time with face palms added.

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked Tazuna, who had tried to keep out of all the conversations that morning due to his hangover. Although, after the strange breakfast, he was feeling much better. He felt even better when he took a drink of what Naruto had called 'coffee'. Which did a much better job at waking him up in the morning than tea did.

"It's just one of those things that I know. Like, when you talk, you don't think about how you know how to do it. You just know how and do it but if you tried to explain to someone who had never been able to, your explanation wouldn't make sense even if you could verbalise it."

Tazuna nodded. He could understand that but still, you weren't born just knowing how to cook a strange type of cuisine perfectly without any teaching. That wasn't normal…

"Well! I guess we had better get to training. I want to see just what each of you three needs to work on."

Later that day, whilst Naruto was in the kitchen, having kicked Tsunami out again so that he could 'Make obed in peace without someone who doesn't even know how to cook the food interfering' and muttering something about 'Not wanting it to turn out English' later banned all the other boys from the kitchen as well after Kakashi and Sasuke ended up burning something by accident, causing Naruto to throw it out and start again whilst threatening to bring out his pipe if they didn't leave him alone.

It had been a surprise to everyone how territorial Naruto was with his food. Naruto had even forced Tak out of the kitchen and left him with Sakura, who adored him. The room was silent apart from clangs and the occasional exclamation in what the genin of Team Seven were beginning to suspect was a different language rather than gibberish.

"So, about earlier," Began Tazuna, watching as all the heads in the room turned to him, "When Naruto was explaining about how he knew how to cook the food, he said it was 'just one of those things I know'. What did he mean by that? I mean, does he do things like that often?"

Kakashi paused, unsure of how to answer. Truth be told, he hadn't even noticed Naruto saying that earlier. But now he thought about it, Naruto did do things like that fairly regularly. There was that language he spoke for one thing.

"Yes, he does do it fairly often. Like when he talks in that weird way."

"Oh yes! I was meaning to ask you about that. See, it sounded kind of familiar. I think I've heard it before. It was a while ago though…" Tazuna trailed off thoughtfully, Tsunami nodding and looking pensive as well.

Shit. That was the last thing Kakashi needed. He remembered belatedly that _that man_ had passed through the Land of Waves. He must have met Tazuna and Tsunami. If they remembered him then this whole thing could turn into a political nightmare. Foreign diplomats weren't supposed to have children in other countries after all.

Come to think of it, he had heard that there were other strange kids like Naruto in some of the other villages. At the time he, like everyone else, dismissed it as them being Jinchuriki. But thinking back to the one time he had an extended conversation with that man, he remembered something that could mean it was something else. Something that could be disastrous if found out…

*Flashback*

_A twelve and a half year old Kakashi glared resentfully at the tall man opposite him. He didn't like the man. He had ruined any chance of Minato-sensei and Kushina getting together and having a child that he could be a brother to like he had always wanted._

_He didn't want to be left alone with the man whilst Minato-sensei confessed to Kushina. But, he supposed he had to be nice. Even if he really didn't want to…_

"_You don't like me, da?" Kakashi jumped, he hadn't expected the man to talk first._

"_What makes you say that?" He asked hesitantly._

_The man chuckled, "One of my comrades from back home pulls the same sort of faces that you do when he's really angry. In your case, I would guess that you are angry because you wanted your teacher to get together with Kushina-chan and have a child, da?"_

_Kakashi blinked, wishing that he had been allowed to wear his mask today. He decided to go with the only way he could see to get out of the conversation._

"_One of your comrades?"_

"_Mmm, da. He decided to go to Suna because he comes from a place that rains a lot. We travelled together with several other comrades but split ways to visit different countries and their villages. I will probably see them when I return home."_

"_You're not staying here?" Strangely, Kakashi felt disappointed. The man made Kushina happy and treated everyone in the village with respect. He was constantly cheerful and waxed eloquent about the plants constantly, the sunflowers in particular. _

"_Nyet, I'm only here until I get called back by my boss. And here is your teacher. You should train well and make the ones who love you proud, da? Before you lose them."_

_Eight months later, Obito died, leaving Kakashi his eye and the stranger left Konoha on the same day. Nine months after that, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and Kushina and Minato were killed, leaving a fourteen year old Kakashi with nothing…_

*Flashback end*

"Oh, I remember! It was that diplomat I was talking about the other day! He talked like that occasionally. Come to think of it, he called breakfast 'zavtrak' and lunch, 'obed' as well."

"Oh?" Sakura leant forward curiously. "What did he look like?"

"Well," Tazuna began only to be interrupted by Naruto, much to Kakashi's relief.

"Finished!" The tall boy declared, happiness glowing around him.

How he had managed to cook that much food with what was in the kitchen, Kakashi would never understand. Naruto sometimes seemed capable of pulling ingredients out of thin air. He wasn't entirely sure why Naruto had felt the need to make such a large meal for lunch either.

They started out with a type of soup Naruto had called borshch that naturally everyone had found unpronounceable, which was made from beets with sour cream. It tasted good after a damp and chilly morning which, in the Land of Waves defence wasn't actually that bad but was weird for the shinobi who were used to Konoha's warm and sunny climate. Although Naruto hadn't seemed to have any difficulties with it.

Then they had bifstroganov which was also declared unpronounceable by everyone, much to Naruto's horror and Sakura's amusement. Despite the difficulty in pronouncing it, it was good as well. It was cubed and sliced beef in a sour cream sauce over noodles. Kakashi had noticed that Naruto had definitely seemed to have an unusual attachment to sour cream that day.

"Hey Naruto. What's with all the sour cream? Not that I'm complaining, cos this tastes good." Asked Sakura.

"This is the way it is meant to be cooked. The sour cream is meant to compliment the food. If it was really cold I probably would have added a bit of vodka to it. In fact that is what I normally do in the winter…"

"Vodka?"

"Da."

"What is that, Naruto?" Kakashi asked curious, remembering that the man had talked about and drank it often.

"…" Naruto looked vaguely uncomfortable and developed a sudden interest in the table. He could feel a faint pulse of reproval and disappointment mixed with a mild anger and worry, begin to bleed through at the back of his mind.

"Naruto?" Asked Kakashi with a warning tone. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this…

"…A drink?" Naruto asked, face beginning to turn slightly red and he was starting to look like he wanted to be somewhere else. He felt really guilty as the feeling in his mind began to grow stronger.

"What type of drink?" Kakashi questioned, his eyes narrowing. Naruto better not have been...

"…" Naruto was beginning to look guilty as well feeling several pairs of eyes on him. Three of them pretty sure of what he had been drinking and not approving. Two of them confused and one of them disbelieving. The feeling beginning to radiate powerfully at the back of his mind did not help at all.

"Naruto." Kakashi and Tsunami both stated warningly. The three adults shared a look, silently agreeing that they really did not want vodka to be what they thought it was.

"An alcoholic kind…" Naruto finally gave in, squirming uncomfortably in his chair.

"How alcoholic?" asked Tazuna, reprovingly. He may be fond of alcohol but drinking at a young age was bad.

"…" Naruto's staring match with the table continued.

"How strong Naruto?" Sakura questioned, her usual soft voice hard.

"Really strong." Naruto said quietly. Feeling several hard stares, he decided it was in his best interests to elaborate.

"The strongest type you can get anywhere…"

Sasuke, Sakura, Inari and Tak were sent out to the forest so that the adults could have a 'talk' with Naruto about his choices in beverages. Sasuke sent Naruto a sympathetic look as he left, understanding what it was like to get told off after spending years doing what you wanted with no adult supervision. He shivered, getting yelled at by Ibiki for living on nothing but tomatoes, pocky, ice-cream and energy drinks had not been nice. Still, he would have preferred that to being yelled at by three adults at the same time, with one of them being Kakashi.

"I can't believe him! How could he be so irresponsible? I mean almost every kid knows that alcohol is bad for you! And how did he even get a hold of stuff that strong? The damage he must have done to himself drinking that much for years! And why didn't he tell us? We're meant to be teammates! You'd think he would tell us he had a habit of getting drunk in his free time!"

"Actually, he didn't say that he got drunk. Just that he drank it." Sasuke pointed out reasonably, flinching when Sakura spun around glaring at him.

"Whose side are you on?" She demanded.

'Naruto's' was what he wanted to say but with the way she was glaring at him, Sasuke figured that if he wanted to be loyal to the Uchiha clan and bring it back to its former glory, he would have to betray a fellow man.

"Yours, of course." He replied.

"Good." Sakura said, beginning to calm down.

Inari sat quietly. Although he was scared of Naruto, he had to admit he felt sorry for him. He had seen his mother and grandfather when they were angry and shuddered at the thought of that happening at the same time. And Kakashi seemed like the kind of guy who was scary when he was angry…

"I can't believe you Naruto! Do you have any idea how damaging to your organs alcohol that strong must have been? Did you even bothering telling anybody? What am I saying? Of course you didn't! You've been ruling yourself since you were four! I bet you never even bothered to tell the Hokage about it! Did you?" exploded Kakashi after the other two adults had finished their pieces.

"Nyet…" Naruto responded quietly.

"God alive, Naruto! Was it just light drinking to get a buzz or was it heavy drinking? Did you get yourself drunk throughout the year? Did you even stop to think about what would happen when someone found out? When did you even start?"

" I did get drunk fairly often... And I started about the summer of the year I turned five…"

"You've been drinking heavily for over eight years? God, this is way out of my jurisdiction. I'm going to have to write a letter to the Hokage about this. I'm sorry Naruto but I just don't know how to deal with this…"

Naruto sat quietly at the table. He really hadn't expected someone to find out about that particular habit. It was just something that he did at the weekends when he was depressed. It wasn't a big deal or anything! Just something he did when loneliness hurt too much and nothing else worked at making him feel better. Which admittedly seemed to have been every weekend and almost every evening since he turned seven, but still! He wasn't an alcoholic damn it! Even if he did feel a craving to go grab a bottle and get himself totally smashed right now, that was normal! Wasn't it?

Oh God, it wasn't. Well, he was just going to accept that he was an alcoholic. Naruto didn't really think that anything could be done to kick the habit now. He had just been doing it for far too long. And when he got back he would have to talk to the Hokage about it….

Not good. Not good at all…

Russia stared at the directions he was given, confused. He had travelled to Konoha from a central part last time and the instructions he had been given seemed vague at the very best. Almost like Sarutobi didn't want him to arrive for a month or so. Well, the old man miscalculated there. A village as famous as Konoha had to be well known. He could get directions from some locals. It would be easy.

Having gotten accurate directions to Konoha, Russia strolled along the road at a leisurely pace. There was still almost two months before the Chunin Exams after all. Plenty of time to reacquaint himself with the village. Idly, he wondered if Kushina was still a shinobi. He might get to see her again although she was probably married with kids by now. It had been fourteen years since he visited. Fourteen and nine months at the end of the week, not that he had counted or anything.

He would enjoy seeing her, he decided. Even if she wouldn't be the same and he was. And Konoha would definitely be the same. After all, how much could a city change in a few years? London had stayed almost identical for the last century after all. He would enjoy seeing her again and any children she might have. Maybe she had gotten together with that Minato man after he left.

Russia tried to ignore the slight pang of sadness at the thought. That was why they weren't supposed to have relationships with humans, it hurt them too much when the human had to move on in their life. But, it still didn't feel fair. Having to watch someone you cared about move on with someone else and not be left without anything from them hurt so much. But it wasn't like the countries could have children. God knows what would happen.

Russia sighed inwardly, these were depressing thoughts. He needed to focus on something positive, like the fact that Konoha was about a week's distance away. Maybe he should've travelled with others, just for company…

Naruto frowned. They had left him behind? That wasn't nice. He may have been working slightly too hard on his project recently but it wasn't like he was normal or anything. He was interrupted by a yelp in the kitchen. Growling, Naruto rolled out of bed and padded down to the kitchen. Barely making any noise as he drew his pipe.

Pausing to take stock of the situation, he watched as Inari attempted to stand up to the two men. Apparently he had decided that he could be a hero if only because he didn't want Naruto to show him up. Naruto smirked. Nice to know he could still have a big impact on people's lives. Although admittedly the impact used to be much more physical and often shortened the life.

The man not holding Tsunami moved his hand to backslap the little kid and Naruto moved. He dashed out of his hiding spot by the door and swung the metal pipe directly into the man's ribcage. Following the strike up with a powerful blow to the base of the chin. The man went down in a spray of red.

Snarling as he jumped nimbly over the man's corpse, Naruto delighted in the look of sheer terror on the face of the other man. He had _missed _this.

Smacking the pipe into the man's leg, he then used the momentum of his swing to crush the right arm, before cracking several ribs and stabbing the blunt object into the stomach and _twisting_.

The man's screams and begging for him to stop sent him higher into the mental field of twisting and shifting delight and power and sheer sadistic pleasure.

Tsunami watched horrified as the kid she had lived beside for the last couple of days completely destroyed what had once been a man, a twisted expression of pure ecstasy radiating across his features. My God, she thought, what did the shinobi do to him?

Finally, Naruto's brain registered two things, one, the body beneath him wasn't moving anymore and two, he had just gone crazy in front of an audience of civilians. Oops…

He looked down nervously at his clothes nervously. They were completely soaked in the red liquid of life. But that wasn't important. Knowing Gato, the bastard had probably planned an attack on the bridge at the same time as taking hostages to make sure he would actually get them.

Snarling again, he hoisted his pipe onto his shoulder and set off towards the bridge to give the ninja sure to be there a lesson on why no-one in Konoha from his years in the academy made him angry…

Sasuke smirked, playing for time. This hidden ninja wasn't anywhere near as terrifying or dangerous as a pissed off Naruto. Admittedly the ice mirrors were a somewhat disturbing surprise seeing as Naruto had said that all the ice-bloodline users had been wiped out. Apparently there was a flaw in Naruto's network. He would have to point that out later…

"I regret that I must ask you to give up. I don't want to kill you because that would totally suck."

Sasuke outright grinned at the ninja.

"Who says I'm the one that'll fight you?" he asked, almost in hysterics at the idea. He was a comrade of Naruto's which meant that Naruto saw it as his duty to protect Sasuke and get revenge when he was hurt. And one thing every kid had learnt early on was that when Naruto promised protection, he fucking meant it.  
>The Ninja frowned behind his mask, apparently he needed to teach the other boy some manners. He flickered from mirror to mirror flinging senbon at the dark-haired boy. Nodding slightly in satisfaction that the boy was paralysed and probably in considerable pain right now. Remembering what the boy said beforehand the Ninja decided to question him before he slipped into unconsciousness.<p>

"What was that supposed to mean? Look around you, no-one's coming to help. This jutsu is impenetrable so-" At this point the mirrors smashed open.

Heh, thought Sasuke, so much for impenetrable… He sank into the waiting blackness.

Growling, Naruto shook the ice from his hair. He had been told by Kaito that all the ice-bloodline users were dead damn it! What was one doing here and attacking one of his comrades?

He glanced over at his unconscious teammate. Oh, that was it. Nobody fucking hurt somebody under his protection. He was going to fucking beat that bastard into the ground and keep him alive to suffer afterwards…

Feeling a power he had sensed before but never been able to grasp, he used his emotions to grip it and pull it out from where it hid. Suddenly he could his entire being was different. Instead of the boiling rage and clouded vision he got when angry, he could feel his gaze sharpening, and felt like ice-cold water was flowing through his veins.

He could feel the resonance with the earth, the connection to everything but at the same time, he could feel a dark coil in his mind, tugging at him to rip and tear and listen to all of creation scream because it could.

Naruto was practiced at ignoring things in his mind though so he would be fine.

**And I'm going to end it there. Only just touched on the Battle of The Bridge so sorry. But I felt that this chapter was important and it's okay to have fillers occasionally. I'm sorry to say that all the dishes were accompanied by sour cream because I couldn't find any other Russian dishes on short notice. Any suggestions for foods or sweets would be much appreciated.**

**Naruto was held back a year at the academy. That's why he is turning fourteen whilst the other two are turning thirteen. Just thought that I should mention that. And he got his uniform back because of his sneaky cat!**

**Poor Naruto is going to have his alcohol taken away from him as well. I am so evil to him sometimes. Russia is coming to visit though! And they will meet next chapter probably because that will have everyone arriving back at Konoha.**

**Just so you know, although Kakashi met Russia as far as he was concerned, Russia was a foreign diplomat called Ivan Braginski. The only person who really knew who Russia was, was Kushina. **

**I think that because the Jinchuriki are the children of countries it is slightly different when they channel the power. Automatically they would have better protection against it and I think that originally the power just sort of manifests itself when they are desperate or angry and they have to experience deep emotional trauma before it unlocks. The more power they channel, the more powerful the urges from the Biju become. Also, the power and personality are split so they will have to concentrate on controlling and containing the power and suppressing the Biju's urges at the same time.**

**If they don't, the results could be somewhat explosive….**

**I'll catch you all later and I hope you have a good time doing whatever you're doing.**


	8. Fights and A Meeting

**Yay! Exam thingy over! Now I can get back to the important part of my life…Writing this. I'm serious, right now this is the most important thing to me. And I haven't done some coursework and shit, so I am getting in trouble for this. On another note, I'm glad so many of you love this story. It's nice to have so many nice reviews. Makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time writing a story that people find shit. So thank you for that. Sincerely. **

**Someone take a picture to commemorate the moment. I was just one hundred percent serious and mature. That only happens like once every three years. Anyway, decided to change things a little bit, so Italics **_**without **_**speech marks are the thoughts of the character that currently has POV. Just figured it would work for this. **

**I have started another story. It will be an England-centric one and will explore how come England is so different from his 'brothers' I may deviate from the standard a bit, but hey, that's why you all apparently love this one. Keep an eye out for that one.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned this stuff, Hetaruto would be the awesomest Manga/anime ever…**

There was something wrong. Everyone could feel it in the air. The temperature had plummeted, a dark purple aura was rising and there was a terror that defied description. The best way to summon it up would be something like _''twanttodieohgodwe'' _And so on.

Naruto would have laughed at the sheer terror of the people around him, if he didn't have to devote almost his entire mind to keeping the energy under control. He could feel it swirling within him, sentient and malicious, trying to rip him apart and destroy everything.

The vicious growls, snarls and demands from the thing within his mind didn't help at all either. Naruto debated, with the one part of his mind that wasn't focused on keeping either power or a spirit under control, whether it was really worth pulling the power for the sheer amount of effort involved with it.

It had felt good for the first minute and then things had gone sour. His previous confidence in ignoring the things within him had been shattered and it had been all he could do to prevent either of them from ripping his body or mind apart. God knows he was crazy enough already and if his body was destroyed he would die. End of Story. And he didn't want to die, period.

But he couldn't send it back. He didn't know how to. Really, he probably should have thought this through before acting. He had just been so angry what with Sasuke being hurt when under his protection. …Sasuke…

He glanced over at the fallen boy and felt a semblance of control return. So long as he concentrated on keeping his comrades safe, he would stay in control. Finally, after almost three minutes of wrestling with his mind and the energy, he looked up at the domes he was still contained in. Unlike last time though, he could see the energy swirling within it. He could feel the flaws and weak points of the technique as well as where the energy was being provided from. He grinned, feeling an animalistic emotion surge through him; he would _own _this kid…

Sakura was worried, what if Naruto or Sasuke got badly hurt? She would never be able to live with herself if either one of her self-professed 'little brothers' got hurt. Never mind that one was older than her. They were both so fragile and hurt inside. She really felt like she'd been getting through to them but one bad battle could be detrimental to all of that. She didn't want either of them to die.

Naruto closed his eyes, sensing the source of the power. He would have to wait until the other boy stopped. There! He opened his eyes and sprang forward faster than he should have been able to. The other ninja tried to slip past him but Naruto reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt. Swinging the boy around, Naruto punched him straight on in the face. The boy went flying out of the mirrors.

Naruto leapt after the other ninja, only to stop in horror as he saw the mask fall apart and Haku, the boy he had spoken to was revealed. What did he do now? He couldn't attack a guy who understood his problem so well, who understood how important being acknowledged and precious people were. He would never be able to live with himself. But Haku had hurt Sasuke, and badly…

Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, Naruto hit Haku around the face just hard enough to send the other boy into unconsciousness but not hard enough to kill him. A bird-like sound startled him until he saw Kakashi charging towards Zabuza. He couldn't let Zabuza die. For Haku's sake he had to at least try to save the man. But he was too far away; he would never reach the two men in time. There was only one option available to him at this point in time. But he really didn't want to do it. Would he be able to live with it if he let Haku down though? …Fuck it. Haku was more important.

Kakashi charged towards the rogue ninja, confident that nothing would stop him from exacting justice this time. He lunged forward; right hand encased in electricity and slammed it into Zabuza's chest. Or rather, _tried_ to plunge it into Zabuza's chest. Just before the lightning hit the other man, something silvery flew into the space between them. And then Kakashi and Zabuza were flung backwards, looking up just in time to see the remains of Naruto's beloved metal pipe clang against the bridge.

Bewildered, Kakashi swung his head around to stare at Naruto, seeing that the blonde boy did indeed have his arm outstretched from throwing the weapon. Silence reigned on the bridge for several long moments.

"Naruto…Did you just…Kill your pipe?" Asked Kakashi slowly. Naruto loved that thing! It was his favourite weapon for God's sake. As far as he knew the violet eyed boy never went anywhere without it!

"Da."

"Why?"

"I owed it to him."

"Zabuza?" asked Kakashi incredulously.

"Nyet."

Kakashi decided then and there, to give up ever trying to work out his student's mind and actions. It was obviously something that would remain incomprehensible to you no matter how long you knew the pale boy.

They were interrupted by a slow, mocking clap. Everyone's head turned to the entrance on the other side of the bridge. Standing there was the man who had made the lives of so many people hell. Gato, the super-business man of evil (Or so he thought of himself) who had come to see the destruction of the last hope for the people under his rule. At least, that was what he thought. To Naruto he just looked like a short, fat, pompous midget with a lame moustache and ability to have gotten out of trouble for too long. And then he started talking…

If it weren't for the fact that there were people around and he had a reputation to protect, Naruto would be hysterically laughing by now. This guy was pathetic! His public speaking skills were shit, he didn't have any charm or charisma, and he relied completely on his money and his name to keep him safe. He was the worst excuse for a dictator Naruto had ever seen. Luckily for him, this meant that Gato would get a quick relatively painless (Compared to some of Naruto's other ways…) death. If he had been a true dictator, Naruto would have kept Gato alive for weeks on end just for his own pleasure.

True, if he wanted to kill Gato, he would have to kill all those other men. But hey, as Stalin said; 'One death is a tragedy, one million deaths is just a statistic.' (Nice guy) Besides, none of the locals here would mourn the deaths of the thugs. Actually, the families of the men probably wouldn't mourn them either, if they had any left that is.

But as it turned out, Naruto didn't need to kill all the men. Zabuza took care of that for him. What a nice guy. Now he could just walk over to the midget and rid the world of one more cockroach. How easy, if a little boring. But, no-one said he had to play by the rules of a ninja. Insofar as there were rules to being a ninja….

Gato smirked triumphantly. That was so easy! None of the ninja were strong enough to make it all the way to the other side of his men to kill him. And he could hire more men to protect him once he got home. These ninja were pathetic if they thought they could beat him! He was an almighty business man. There was nothing he couldn't get!

"_Good evening, bastard." _An ice-cold voice with a soft accent and harsh letters spoke.

"Wha?" Gato turned his head, confused as to where the voice had come from.

"_People like you disgust me. You are blemishes on a beautiful earth. What gives you the right to control these people? In my home, I am hated and called a demon. Maybe there is something to that, for if I am a demon, then I must be under Satan…" _

Gato shivered as he heard the voice. He couldn't understand what the actual words were but the meaning behind them was clear enough. The morbid amusement, deep contempt and carefully controlled anger were terrifying within a voice like that. A voice of snow and ice and of desperation to see your next spring. A voice from a place of no warmth, no kindness, only a harsh brutality and determination to survive. There was no mercy in that voice. Gato span around desperate to find where the voice was, if only to escape.

The last thing Gato ever saw was a pair of merciless, ice-cold deep violet eyes under messy platinum blonde hair above a mirthless grin as that horrific voice said one last chilling sentence in a language he had no hope of ever understanding.

"_And he has judged you unworthy…"_

The last thing Gato ever thought was 'I was wrong…Demons really do exist…'

Naruto watched dispassionately as the body of the once rich businessman fell onto the ground silently. The man deserved it. Admittedly, by Naruto's standards he hadn't really deserved the psychological torture really. But Gato had indirectly caused the death of Naruto's pipe. Which deserved punishment, severe punishment. Nobody killed Naruto's pipe and walked away…Actually just walked away. Gato was lucky really. People had been known to need to see therapists for months if not years just for _denting _Naruto's pipe.

Standing up and turning his back to the corpse of the man, Naruto wandered back to the bridge pretending he had nothing to do with the man's death at all. Hands in his pockets, scarf neatly around his neck and shoulders relaxed, Naruto looked the very image of casualness and innocence. Which had every single member of his team suspicious instantly. Naruto never looked casual or innocent. Well, technically, he always looked innocent. Except that was more just his smile than his whole body.

"I can't help but notice Naruto, that Gato is missing…" Kakashi pointed out, implying.

"Really? How odd. I had not noticed that myself. I wonder where he could have gotten to…" Naruto responded. A very faint image of a smile appeared on Sasuke's face and Sakura stifled a giggle.

"Well, obviously we would have to take a look around to see what has happened to him. We can't just leave loose ends on a mission like this…" Kakashi replied, the faintest note of mild glee in his voice.

"Ah, well. He may be a bit difficult to find now. Considering how long ago the battle ended. He could be anywhere by now. By the way, what would happen to all of his belongings were he never to be found?" asked Naruto, his first few sentences marked by a very faint flicker of an eyelid that could possibly be interpreted as a wink.

"Well, of course since he is currently _in absentia _as it were, all of his belongings would have to be given to the people of the Wave, should he not be found." Kakashi said, his visible eye beginning to twinkle.

"Oh dear. Well, I suppose it is for the best if Gato has indeed gone missing. After all, he may never come back and then it would just be a waste of money." Naruto replied, beginning to grin.

Sakura looked from her teacher to her 'little brother' stifling with difficulty the hysterical laughter that was threatening to burst out of her. Judging by his expression, Sasuke was suffering from the same condition. Who said Naruto didn't have a sense of humour?

Russia sighed. Konoha was still fairly far away. At least another day or two. Why did he choose to go on foot alone again? Oh yes, because it was only him invited to come straight to Konoha and the other countries were going to places that were in a different direction to the place he was going. Honestly, why couldn't they have just invited the other countries to Konoha right when the Exams were starting?

Seeing an inn at the end of the road, Russia sighed with relief at the thought of interacting with living beings again. He entered the inn and paid for a room. But it was at dinner that he heard something particularly interesting.

Russia was eating in the corner of the room he had chosen, facing both the door and the counter. When a large man slammed his hands down on the table.

"I swear it's true! Down in Waves, you know, where that Gato fellow was ruling? Well anyway, this ship builder guy, Tabuna or somethin', decides to start building a bridge to the mainland so they don't have to rely on boats no more. And he goes to Konoha to hire ninja see? And they go over to Waves, keepin' him safe from all these other ninja, and these were rookies too! Although I heard one of them's a real monster of a teenager, anyway so they get to the house, keep the bridge safe when a week later they get attacked at the bridge by, I tell no lie, Zabuza of the Mist! And not only that, but they beat him! And then afterwards, when they're finished, Gato comes out of nowhere to finish them off! But Zabuza decides to go down fightin' and takes on all the thugs Gato's go with him. Meanwhile, Gato disappears into thin air and no-one can find him! And if that isn't weird enough, A while later, the monster of a kid comes strolling out of the forest calm as you please apparently with no idea that Gato had disappeared. That's not the best part though. Since Gato's missin' the entire country gets the money and you know what? Taguna or whatever his name is, names his bridge after the kid! I'm serious! You go down there, you'll see it! The great Naruto Bridge!"

"What was the kid's full name?" Asked a young woman, cradling her new baby close to her.

"Uzumaki Naruto, apparently." Russia straightened up at this. _Could it possibly be?_

"How old is he?" asked another curious inn-goer.

"Apparently he turns fourteen at the end of the week." _Fourteen? But that would mean…Oh no, please God no…_

"What does he look like?" The inn-keeper questioned, just as curious as everyone else.

"Well apparently, he's like five foot nine, five foot ten ish. With messy platinum-silvery hair and violet eyes. He's also supposedly really, really pale and has these black whiskery marks on his cheeks." _Oh God, oh God, oh God no…That wasn't meant to happen…How could it have? Does God hate me? _Well, at least he knew why Konoha had been so insistent on him coming this year…

Sarutobi shivered. Why did he feel like something terrible had happened?

Naruto hummed as he meandered down the road after his teammates. Sakura was currently trying to console a down-hearted Haku. Apparently Zabuza had gotten too injured whilst fighting Gato's men and passed away. Since then, Haku seemed to decide to cling to him instead for reasons unfathomable to Naruto. Recently, he seemed to be collecting quite a gathering of followers. It would help if he knew how he was doing it…

Tak mewed as he saw the gates of Konoha come into view. There was a strange scent here. It reminded him of Naruto's. He tried to catch Naruto's attention but the boy seemed to think he was just happy to get home. If Tak wanted to know what the smell was, he would have to find out himself.

Sarutobi sighed in exasperation. That was just typical, you send out a team of genin under a powerful jonin, they get attacked by rogue ninja, pick up a new person and come back at the same time a powerful 'diplomat' does. Life really had it out for him in his old age.

"Very well, you're all dismissed. Apart from you Naruto, you stay here." The four people and cat left the room, curiously looking behind them except for the Uchiha boy.

"Alright, Naruto the reason I wanted you here was that we have a…Diplomat staying with us for the Exams. He will need someone to show him around Konoha and keep him out of trouble. I would like you to do that alright?"

"Da. That is fine."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Sarutobi, an uncharacteristically evil grin on his face. Naruto swallowed, just what had he gotten himself into?

The man was shown in and Naruto had to swallow an intake of breath. He looked so like Naruto! Maybe the man had come from the same region his father had! Could this be a chance to find out more about his family?

Russia gazed at the teenager in front of him. After all, Sarutobi had told him that the boy's name was Uzumaki. And Kushina was the only one left. But there was nobody else that could have given the blonde boy his colouring as far as he knew. Well, only one way to test it out…

"_Good afternoon. My name is Ivan Braginski and the Hokage tells me that you are to show me around Konoha. I look forward to spending the next few weeks with you." _If the boy really was his child, then he should be able to understand what he was saying. He tried to ignore the small flash of surprise in the identical violet eyes.

"_Good afternoon. I also look forward to taking you around Konoha. But," _And here the tall boy stood a little firmer. _"I have also been told to make sure that you don't cause any trouble for me or the inhabitants of this village."_

Russia was impressed. Most people didn't have the guts to stand up to him. This might really be his…son.

"_Well, I will see you tomorrow then, yes?" _The boy nodded in response.

"_Good. And by the way," _The teenager paused in leaving the room, eyebrow cocked slightly. _"May I ask what your name is?"_

The blonde boy grinned. _"Uzumaki Naruto."_

The door swang shut and Sarutobi breathed an inward sigh of relief. That had gone better than expected although he got the feeling Naruto was clueless as to who Russia really was.

A gloved hand coming down on his table made him jump. He looked up to see unamused violet eyes over an unusually serious face staring right at him. He swallowed lightly. Here came the part he had had nightmares about.

"Now, Comrade Sarutobi. I think you and I need to have a little talk before I meet _my son_ tomorrow, da?"

**Dun, dun, dun. Pissed Russia is pissed. And Sarutobi needs to think up a quick excuse. By the way, the italics there are just for emphasising the words not for speaking in Russian. Russia and Naruto have met now and I think Naruto will work out who Russia is **_**after **_**they bond. Cos I really don't want to be writing really angsty stuff. Because, it's boring. Like really boring.**

**And I worked on this for a couple of days so I am kinda proud of it. It's not as long as some of my chapters but this was as far as my muse would take me. Stupid muse, could've at least given me directions…**

**But anyway, next chapter the Jinchuriki meet and you will finally know who the other parents are! Yay! **

**Can't think of anything else to say, so later.**


	9. New friends and Experiences

**Hey guys! Sorry I took so long but my muse decided to abandon me in the middle of nowhere to go on holiday and didn't leave me any directions. Stupid muse, I thought you were supposed to help me. I wasn't totally sure exactly how to do the scene with Russia and Sarutobi so I left it out. If anyone wants me to write it as an extra story, leave a message. If enough people are interested, I'll do it. Now that that's out of the way…**

**Naruto has returned to Konoha! Expect the return of his classmates plus the introduction of the other Jinchuriki.** **In Naruto's and most other points of view, Russia will be called Mr Braginski rather than his proper name. All the jinchuriki can communicate silently by manipulating their facial expressions to send messages and thoughts. These will be written with the quotation marks rather than speech marks. Oh and the Universal language between them all will be written in bold. Not sure how they'll get on exactly but I do know that Naruto is going to gain a couple of drinking buddies! Now he can go get drunk with friends XD I think I've deprived Naruto of alcohol long enough, although I don't really know what he'd be like under the influence…**

**Disclaimer: The owners would have to have been totally stoned to write something like this…**

The new day dawned bright and early for Naruto, who was awoken by a series of bangings and screamed declarations of love through his door. Shit, he'd completely forgotten about Ino. Maybe if he ran away fast enough, he could find a new hiding place. Although, he didn't really fancy having her break into his apartment and steal stuff again. Plus he had to take Mr Braginski on a tour of Konoha today. Maybe he could leave a message…

Russia awoke several hours after his son did and headed down to the entryway of the inn he was staying at. It had been nice to arrive yesterday. Even if he was still pissed at Sarutobi, saying 'I was ordered to by the Daimyo' was not an acceptable excuse. Not. At. All. And things had only gone downhill once he heard about his son's situation within the village he should have been able to call home. Son. Just thinking the word felt weird, let alone it actually being a reality. Russia loved kids sure, but getting on with a teenage child was difficult enough let alone having to take responsibility for one you had never seen before then and had no idea how to interact with.

Seeing one of the ANBU ninja waiting outside, he correctly assumed they were waiting for him and went over to talk to them. Upon seeing him, the ANBU straightened up and waited for him to reach them.

"Pryvet ANBU-san. Are you waiting for me?" Russia asked, mildly amused to see the faint unease he always inspired in people he met for the first time. It got boring after a while though…

"Ah, yes. Um, Braginski-san right?" at the nod he received the ANBU carried on, "You see, Naruto left a message at the Hokage tower earlier this morning, saying that he would meet you at the village gates in half an hour."

Russia raised an eyebrow, "Why would he feel the need to do that?" He asked, startled to see the amusement in the ANBU's eyes as he suppressed a laugh.

"Heh. If you had seen what got him up this morning and then followed him around, you wouldn't ask." Shaking his head and still snickering slightly the ANBU departed.

Russia frowned, that hadn't been helpful in the slightest. How the hell was he supposed to find out what was bothering his…son if no-one would tell him? Well, there was nothing stopping him from asking Naruto. Although, he would probably have to get some breakfast. Maybe if he went Ichiraku he could find out what had happened to Kushina, Sarutobi had refused to tell him the night before…

Sarutobi sighed, looking at the destruction Russia had wreaked upon his poor office. Since technically Russia couldn't hurt him, his furniture had suffered instead. Not that he blamed Russia, he was well aware that Russia followed the 'Unleash your anger on whatever poor thing is closest to you' method of relieving his frustrations. It was a pity though; His office had been _so _neat and organised. Now it was more of bombsite really. Bits of wood flung across the room, destroyed books and pieces of paper, bits of ink splattered all over the wall…well you get the idea. Ah well, time to get cleaning.

Naruto shifted nervously from foot to foot. He really wanted to get moving, the sooner he started moving around, the less likely it was that Ino would find him again. He really hated having her stalking him but there was nothing he could really do about it. Aside from killing her but he didn't really want to do that. He could remember the day that she found out that Sakura was his big sister. Not wanting to be outdone, she had declared herself to be Naruto's self-proclaimed little sister. Naruto had encouraged this on the assumption that calling each other siblings would discourage her from wanting to marry him as her plans seemed to have degenerated to.

It didn't work.

Now she followed him around calling him 'nii-san' rather than 'Naruto-kun' and Sakura had started calling him 'Naruto-chan' or 'nii-chan'. This was not, contrary to popular belief, an improvement. Watching the clock, Naruto shook those thoughts out of his head and waited as the half an hour was up and right on time, Mr Braginski came round the corner, visibly depressed. Naruto cocked an eyebrow; he had been under the impression that the diplomat was a pretty cheerful man. He wondered briefly what could have upset the man so much but filed it away under 'Not Going To Bother to Ask and Get Kaito to Find Out Later', maybe he shouldn't be quite so lazy but hey, informants were meant to inform. May as well keep them in shape. Come to think of it, he needed to get more vodka now his stash had been confiscated. Ahhh, if only he could find drinking buddies his age, life would be so much easier.

"_Good morning Naruto. I was wondering, why did we have to meet out here this morning? I was under the impression we arranged to meet at the hotel, yes?" _Asked Russia, curious as to why he had needed to come all the way to the gates.

Naruto flushed, _"ah, well. It was because…well because of…um well…"_

"Nii-san!" Russia jumped and began looking for places to hide on reflex before remembering where he was and that Belarus wouldn't be there. Wondering who the hell it was, he was startled to feel Naruto yank his arm and begin dragging him in a direction as far away as possible. Confused he turned his head back in the direction of the place they had just left, to see a young long haired blonde girl going psycho looking for something. He swallowed. Maybe Naruto's life here wasn't actually that different from his one at home. His family certainly seemed the same.

"_Shit. She's been really persistent this morning…" _Muttered Naruto, apparently to himself.

"_This happens to you every morning?" _asked Russia incredulously.

"_Uh, yes. Anyways, you wanted to see around Konoha right?" _Naruto quickly changed the subject.

"_Yes. It has been a while since my last visit and I would like to see how much has changed around here." _ Russia replied.

"_So you've been here before?" _Asked Naruto, at Russia's nod he continued, _"Sweet. That means I don't really have to do an 'official' tour. I can show you all the interesting places!"_

Having been taken on a tour around Konoha, Russia was slightly surprised. It was different having someone unofficial taking you around. You saw so much more of the city. He had been shown where Naruto got his groceries, supplies, books and general needs from, seen the training grounds Naruto trained at, some out of the way places in the forest Naruto went to when he wanted to get away from everybody, the library where shinobi could go to research things, the Academy, where Naruto and his 'big sister' hung out – sometimes with their teammates and the other rookie ninja – and even met some of Naruto's friends in addition to the general sites. It had been fun but it was getting late in the afternoon and they were both getting hungry. Russia suggested Ichiraku's, wishing to spend time with his son in the place that he and Kushina had met properly for the first time.

Sitting down in the stand, Russia listened attentively as Naruto continued to tell him stories about his childhood, time at the Academy and most recently, his times as a rookie ninja. It was somewhat surprising to hear about so much happening within such a short span of years. Nations tended to take several centuries to physically grow from young children into adults – America and Canada had been unusual cases in that they took only a few decades – and so to hear about a physical childhood that only lasted twelve years was a new experience for Russia.

When Naruto had run out of stories to tell him, Russia began telling him tales of his own land. He told Naruto the folk tales and legends, the leaders that they had, the wars they had fought in, the alliances that had been made and broken. Conversely, he also told Naruto his own personal stories, like the time he and the rest of the Allies actually remembered about Canada's birthday and attended – they woke up at the end of the week in the middle of Quebec with hangovers and no memories, all wearing each other's clothes with a platypus, rhino, all seven of the harry potter books, 4 swords, a glow stick, 14 gallons of pink and silver paint and 23 cans of silly string – the Christmas he had spent with his sisters one year – before Belarus had become obsessed with him – and the fun they'd had, England summoning him by accident in the second world war, the time he broke Busby's Chair and even about the time America got jealous of the smores the Axis powers were having on a deserted island and insisted that the Allies had some as well.

Naruto listened enraptured, to all of the stories. And Ichiraku smiled as he wiped down the table, watching a father bonding with his son.

Turning up to training the next day, Naruto was exhausted. He had had no idea that talking to Mr Braginski would take up that much time last night. The man had so many stories! Ichiraku had needed to point out that it was late in the evening so that they could go home. He had even shown Tak to Mr Braginski. Tak had been sleeping at the time but the man had been very complimentary of him.

Sakura smiled at Naruto. He looked slightly tired but he had probably just stayed up too late talking to Mr Braginski. She had been surprised to see the tall man. He looked exactly like the instinctive transformation (AN: remember that?) and she knew without needing to be told that it was Naruto's dad. But she came to the same conclusion as everyone else about it. Seeing as Naruto was clueless, watch and enjoy the show without telling him who Mr Braginski really was.

Kakashi frowned, it wasn't usual to see Naruto looking tired. It was normally Sakura who was tired in the mornings. He was somewhat relieved that they wouldn't be training today. All the experienced shinobi were needed for Exam preparation. Pulling out the forms, he explained what he had called them up for.

"So, today we're not going to be doing any training. Before you start whining or bitching at me, this is because I'm needed for preparation for the Chunin Exam. Which, you guys are going to have the chance to take part in. Here're the forms, all the details on how to take part are on them. See you guys tomorrow." With that, Kakashi left the meeting site to continue with his work.

Frowning as he walked through Konoha, reading the note, Naruto couldn't help but feel annoyed. Obviously he was going to need his teammates for at least two thirds of the Exams and while he would have taken care of Sakura anyway, having to keep Sasuke alive as well was a real bitch. Knowing the Uchiha, he would probably pick a fight with the most powerful and experienced genin there and almost get himself killed, putting Naruto and Sakura in danger at the same time. Not keeping his eyes on where he was going, Naruto smacked into a fairly solid frame.

Blinking at the sudden contact, Naruto looked up from his page to meet annoyed blue eyes. He frowned and glared back at the boy. He was shorter than Naruto (which was not a difficult feat for someone his age) but only slightly, he had icy blue eyes and slicked back blonde hair. He was wearing a dark green uniform with patches of black and lace up combat boots with a small black and silver cross hanging on a chain around his neck, along with his black headband symbolling he was from Iwa. It was the boots that interested Naruto the most. Every other ninja he had ever met wore the sandals that left part of your feet open for damage. Nice to know someone else had the common sense to wear shoes that protected all of your feet. The thing that interested Naruto the most about the boy though, was the fact that he couldn't read him at all. His features were as inscrutable as Naruto's own could be. Naruto felt a small thrill of excitement. For some reason, his mind was telling him that the boy was different, like him.

"Ah, I apologise. I wasn't looking where I was going. I was too engrossed in making sure I knew everything that I need to do in order to successfully take part in the Exams later this week." Naruto responded, well aware that his trademark smile and sparkly eyes made sure it was visible that he supposedly didn't mean it. If the boy could read people as well as he could, then he would understand that Naruto was doing it to worry and freak out the boy's teammates who were standing behind him.

The boy's eyes scrutinised him for a few seconds before they softened slightly and the faintest of smirks flickered across his face. The boy was deliberately letting his emotions and thoughts show to send a message to Naruto. For that brief second, the boy's features were saying to Naruto 'I see what you're doing. And I find it funny, so keep doing it.'

Naruto grinned; this was his kind of person.

Sakura sighed in frustration; playing tag was not something she wanted to do with Konohamaru. The boy and his friends had too much energy for her to put up with. It took forever to wear them down enough to catch them. A small cry of pain and shock startled her around the corner. Konohamaru was being dangled by a Suna shinobi who had a grip on his scarf. Konohamaru squirmed, obviously trying to break the boys grip. The teenage boy holding him sneered before yelping in pain as a small rock flew perfectly between his eyes. He dropped Konohamaru in his shock, the small boy scuttled behind Sakura for protection.

"Fuck! That hurts you little shit! The fuck did you do that for!" demanded the teenager angrily. His eyes narrowed and glaring at the boy in the tree who had thrown the rock, who on closer inspection was Sasuke. Sakura groaned inwardly. Where was Naruto when you needed him?

Sasuke smirked at the slightly older boy. He had been itching for a fight with a proper opponent. Kakashi never bothered and Naruto broke your bones if he got too excited. The older boy seethed with rage and reached over his back, pulling the bundle on it forward. Sasuke leaned forward in anticipation.

"What the hell is going on here?" a weirdly accented voice rang out in the small area.

Startled, Sakura turned around to see a mildly irritated boy their age looking at the two other teenage males. She shivered, this boy felt slightly dangerous, like Naruto. He felt as if he was much older than he looked and seemed like someone you didn't want on your bad side. His eyes drifted to Sasuke and he frowned, obviously putting the pieces together. He took a step forward and began to raise his hand.

"I wouldn't do that comrade." Another differently accented voice spoke clearly and Sakura relaxed. Naruto would take care of it. She turned around to see Naruto standing with another boy, slightly shorter than Naruto and with much brighter blonde hair that was slicked back neatly.

Naruto scrutinised the boy in front of him. He gave off the same vibe that Han, his new friend, had given off. He was much shorter than he and Han, with brilliantly blonde and messy hair and emerald green eyes. He had pale skin and the kanji for love either tattooed or engraved onto the left hand side of his forehead. He wore a brighter green uniform than Han, although his looked like a suit with lots of pockets on the jacket and a black strap going diagonally from his right shoulder to his left hip, black gloves and black army style boots like the ones Naruto and Han wore. The thing that caught the two boys' attention this time around though, were the thick, slightly bushy, intense black eyebrows resting above his eyes. Surprisingly, neither of them laughed at the boy, which he obviously had been expecting them to do as he cocked one of those eyebrows in confusion. In Naruto's opinion, the eyebrows just helped the smaller boy express himself more passionately. In Han's case, he could see from the intense expression in the boy's eyes that laughing or mocking the eyebrows would make his future much shorter and incredibly more painful.

Naruto grinned at the boy and broke the silence with a common language he and Han had discovered after displaying their own languages to one another – wanting to speak without their teammates understanding only to discover to their dismay that they couldn't understand one another – which they had found by accident.

"**Hi there! I'm Naruto and this guy beside me is Han. I would appreciate it if you didn't kill or damage my teammates cos I kind of need them for the Exams and I don't feel like waiting til next time just because the guy is an idiot and picked a fight with the wrong person. That would really suck!" **Exclaimed Naruto in a cheerful tone completely not suited for the conversation going on.

The other blonde boy shot a 'Is he serious' look at Han who responded with a 'Just go along with it' expression. The boy cocked an eyebrow and responded.

"**My name is Gaara. And I must ask, are you bloody idiotic or just drunk?" ** He asked, accent twisting the words in a way neither of the boys had heard before.

Naruto grinned. **"Now there's an idea! I actually know a place where I can get some alcohol. How about we go there and get completely smashed tonight?" **Gaara's eyes lit up at the mention of alcohol and he looked extremely excited and enthusiastic at the idea.

Han began to get a bad feeling about this. He had drunk before and quite liked it but the Exams were beginning in two days and he had been planning to train tomorrow. **"Are you guys sure about that? I mean the Exams start in two fays and we should really train tomorrow…"**

"**It will be fine Han. We can stop before we get too inebriated. It's just a drink to commemorate becoming friends, that's all." **Gaara nodded, agreeing with Naruto.

"**It'll be fine. We'll control ourselves." **Han nodded reluctantly. Alright, he'd go along with this. It didn't seem particularly responsible but hey, even he had to take a break from being mature once in a while.

Sakura watched concerned, as the three boys all joined together and wandered down the street obviously having come to an agreement of some sort. Why did she feel like they would do something really stupid?

The light was far too bright. It hurt Naruto's head and he groaned his head pounding. It had been a while since he got that drunk. Thinking back to the previous night, he couldn't really remember much after their seventh round of their drinking game. He opened his eyes, letting out another groan of pain and sighed in frustration, seeing the tops of trees in the morning light. Actually, no. Afternoon light. Shit, he was going to be in so much trouble when he got home. Sakura was going to kill him. He sat up and looked around. Gaara was still passed out on the grass, which was surprising because he had drank the least out of the three of them and Han appeared to be being sick beside a tree.

Looking around the clearing, Naruto could see piles of sand, chunks taken out of rocks and smooth stretches on the ricks where it looked almost melted and wondered what the fuck they had done last night. He stood up shakily and stumbled over to Gaara, attempting to wake him up. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work and Naruto was stumped for ideas, which was when Han came back and blasted a load of hot water into Gaara's face.

The smaller boy shot straight up and started cursing, glaring at Han and Naruto as they laughed. He looked somewhat ridiculous in his dripping wet uniform which thankfully – like Han and Naruto's – only seemed to be slightly wrinkled. Eventually, he couldn't hold the glare in anymore and laughed with them.

"Just so you guys know, I am so going to get you back for that." He stated, having calmed down a little.

Naruto looked completely shocked. "What? But I didn't even do anything to you!"

Gaara smirked, "But you let Han do it. Which makes you partially responsible."

"That is not fair! How can you say something like that? It totally ruins the concept of logic!"

As Naruto and Gaara continued their argument, gradually getting louder, Han fought the urge to giggle slightly. He felt much more relaxed around these two. They were pretty good friends and he felt comfortable with them. As Naruto pleaded for his support in the argument and he vehemently remained neutral despite the rising protests against it, none of the three boys noticed the footsteps heading in their direction.

"God, you buggers are loud." The boys jumped, startled at the voice. They spun around to find a man with the same hair, eyes, skin colour and eyebrows as Gaara smirking at them. He twisted round to yell into the woods.

"Hey Ivan, Ludwig! I found them!" Turning back to the boys, he added, "If you don't want people to find you, then you shouldn't be so loud. And if you must have an argument, at least keep your guard up so you don't get caught unaware."

Within a few seconds, two other men climbed up onto the rock to join the green eyed man. One of them was Braginski and the other was a slightly shorter man with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as Han. He must have been Ludwig, Naruto concluded. He wondered idly, why the three men had even bothered to look for them. It was hardly uncommon for Naruto to go missing for several days and he got the feeling it was the same for Han and Gaara.

Nevertheless, if the guys cared enough to look for them fine, Naruto wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Who the hell are you three and why did you even bother coming to look for us?" Although, apparently Gaara was.

The green eyed man looked slightly surprised at the question and the other two men shared smirks with one another. Obviously there was an inside joke going on there with the green eyed man. "Ah right, yes. Well, I am Arthur Kirkland. The blonde haired man beside me is Ludwig Beilschmidt and the absurdly tall man beside him is Ivan Braginski. As for why we looked for you. Well, we heard a load of noise on our walk and decided to come and investigate.'

Han, Gaara and Naruto shared glances, exchanging silent messages.

'He's lying.'

'Well obviously.' A roll of eyes.

'Be nice Gaara. Han was pointing out what needed to be said.'

'Well yes. But how can he actually expect us to believe him? I mean after he found us he called out to the other two saying that he found us. They were obviously looking for us.'

'Why though? What are we to them?'

'Well, I have to take Mr Braginski around Konoha and make sure he doesn't cause trouble but I have no idea about the other two.'

'Hmmm. This is very strange. I wonder how we can find out more.'

'Why don't you ask your fairies?' a deadpan expression and light snigger from the two teenage boys.

'WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU ABOUT THEM?' a mild twitch underneath an emerald eye.

'You should really learn to hold your alcohol better, comrade.'

A glare was sent to the still sniggering scarfed boy and impassive blonde haired boy before Gaara turned on his heel and stomped out of the clearing and back to Konoha. Naruto watched him go, still giggling whilst Han watched impassively.

"Do you think we upset him?" asked Han.

"It'll be ok. We're his friends!" exclaimed Naruto childishly before wandering onto the path, occasionally stopping to look at flowers or butterflies or little animals. Han sighed and shook his head, before following his hot tempered and childish best friends, unable to hide the slight grin on his face.

England watched them go before turning to Russia and Germany, clearly baffled.

"Did they forget we were here or something?" he asked, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

Germany shrugged. "I guess so."

Russia laughed. "That was lots of fun, da? The way they thought we couldn't read their faces after you spoke was really funny."

England raised his eyebrows, "I liked the way they instantly decided I was a liar. That was very kind of them." He finished, rolling his eyes and tone dripping with sarcasm.

Germany smirked, "Well, it would appear your son inherited your alcohol intolerance and delusions."

England glared at Germany, "My fairies are not delusions, bastard!"

Germany rolled his eyes. "Sure they aren't England. Sure they aren't."

England snarled and then stormed off in much the same manner that his son had only moments beforehand. With Russia strolling down the same path, pointedly ignoring the things his son had looked at and Germany followed a good distance behind, determinedly pretending the other two nations didn't exist.

The next day Naruto bounded along in front of his team, happily anticipating the Exams. Sure he had gotten yelled at by Sakura yesterday, for being irresponsible but he didn't really care. He had fun with Gaara and Han and that was all that mattered. He bounced through the door cheerfully and went to face the Exams head on.

Naruto sniggered at Sasuke's slightly bruised face. He had gone up against Lee, a taijutsu expert and suffered dearly for it. The expression on the Uchiha's face as he realised there was nothing he could do, even with his bloodline had been hilarious. Ignoring Kakashi explaining something boring, Naruto stared at the door in anticipation. Soon the next part of his career would begin and he couldn't wait.

Inside the room, Naruto spotted Han and Gaara quickly. They were sitting with a load of people he didn't know and judging by Gaara's expression, he was going to kill the blonde girl currently crushing him in a bear hug and saying things he couldn't hear.

Naruto wandered over, taking a better look at the girl. She was several inches taller than Gaara – although that wasn't really hard – with shoulder length silky blonde hair and bright blue mischievous eyes. Her skin was more tanned than Naruto or Gaara's, both of whom we're quite pale, but not extremely so. She was wearing black gloves like Gaara and Naruto, with a darker blue coat which had lapels like a shirt, with looser sleeves than Gaara's and an almost cape-like attachment on it. The coat split when it came to her waist and revealed her red baggy military style trousers which were tucked into the same military boots that apparently the whole group wore. The fact that she was apparently crushing Gaara's lungs in her grip as she hugged him didn't appear to matter to her. Naruto winced in sympathy; couldn't he meet at least one girl who wasn't psycho in some way?

He turned his gaze to the Han who also appeared to be getting hugged to death by an overly cheerful boy who was ranting on about pasta. Naruto really didn't want to know but Han's long suffering expression indicated this had been going on for a while. The cheerful boy in question had red-brown hair with a curl that stuck straight up from the left hand side of his fringe. Naruto couldn't see what colour his eyes were at that point in time because they were closed. He was wearing a blue jacket, trousers and tie with a black shirt and boots. Like Han, he apparently decided to go gloveless. He had an absentminded expression on his face and seemed to spend most of his time somewhere else.

Looking around at the group, Naruto saw that Gaara had freed himself from the blonde girl and was yelling insults and profanities at her whilst she pouted and declared that he wasn't as cute when he started talking. Shaking his head, Naruto turned his attention to the rest of the group, still unnoticed.

There was a dark haired boy standing near to Han and the other boy. He was slightly smaller than Gaara, with large dark brown eyes and pale skin. He was wearing a button up, high collar white jacket with matching trouser and black boots. He had also forgone the gloves and had a large black staff with a plant on the end of it. He was standing quietly but his facial expression gave away that he was somewhat uncomfortable with all of the noise and activity around him.

Beside him was a brown haired boy whose hair was long and pulled into a ponytail that fell down his left shoulder. He had large light brown eyes and slightly tanned skin. He was wearing a red Chinese style shirt with dark trousers underneath and the military boots that they were all wearing. He seemed to be of average height and looked mildly exasperated with all the noise going on. He shuffled from foot to foot and looked like he wanted to yell at them all to shut up. Naruto guessed that he would be the most mature out of the group.

The only other girl in the group was sitting down on a ledge at the wall. Naruto guessed she would be half a head to a head shorter than him. She had chin length blonde hair that was slightly wavy and indigo-violet eyes behind glasses. Her hair was a dirty blonde colour and she had a curl that went straight forward from her fringe. She was wearing a soft brown trench coat with a fur filled hood that was white and light brown trousers tucked into her boots. She was wearing gloves and had two of the straps that Gaara had on his uniform but hers were a white colour. She was watching the arguing pairs calmly and quietly.

The teenage boy shouting at nothing in particular in the middle of the group could have been her twin. He was roughly the same height. He had the same dirty blonde hair only with a cowlick instead of a curl. His eyes that were also behind glasses were a bright blue colour, lighter than the blonde girl's; he was wearing a bomber jacket over his shirt with dark trousers and boots. He seemed loud, exuberant and unbelievably cheerful.

Naruto disliked him instantly. He didn't understand why. The boy had never done anything to him. If anything he seemed like a pretty nice guy, but there was just something in the often ignored part of his mind telling him that they were not going to be friends. The boy's eyes met Naruto's and narrowed. Apparently he felt the same way. Oh goodie, this _would _be fun…

The boy stormed up to him and glared. **"The fuck are you looking at?" **Naruto's eyes narrowed. He did not like people being rude to him. If the boy kept this up, Naruto would be breaking in his new pipe early.

"**I wasn't looking at anything. Of course, if you weren't a retard, you would know this."** Naruto responded, his temper starting to rise. They were not going to get along. Not until they fought all of the negative feelings out.

"**What did you just call me? You communist bastard." **That was the last straw. Naruto didn't even think about it, he just lunged right at the irritating blonde.

The blonde haired boy retaliated and the two fought like cats and dogs until they were pulled apart by several of the other kids who had been standing right beside them.

"Bee, that's enough." The quiet blonde haired girl said to the annoying boy, "Besides, you're the one that started it."

Having calmed down, Naruto and Bee gave each other somewhat embarrassed looks. They had let their tempers get the better of them due to their nervousness about the Exams. With both of the girls giving them annoyed looks, the two shook hands and muttered apologies, rolling their eyes at the girls behind their backs.

Naruto was then introduced to each of the members of the group. The blonde haired girl who was now arguing with Gaara – about his eyebrows? –was called Yugito, who was from the same village as Bee strangely. The other girl with the glasses was Fu and as far as anybody knew, not actually related to Bee. The ditzy looking brunette boy who had been clinging to Han the entire time was called Roshi and apparently was only really serious in a fight. The quiet black haired boy was called Yagura and was incredible polite. He and Gaara got on the best. And finally, the brunette boy with a pony tail was called Utakata. And from what anyone could tell, was actually the most mature out of the group. Well, thought Naruto, this is going to be fun…

**And that's it people. Sorry but you'll have to wait until next time for the test. And there will be some action between Naruto's classmates and his new group of friends. Yes, Bee and Naruto will fight with each other occasionally. With their dads' dislike of each other, it's bound to happen. Generally when they are particularly stressed or worried. And Gaara and Yugito fight much more than they do. But it will eventually die down into just really teasing each other. Maybe…**

**Well, now parents of each of the Jinchuriki have been revealed! And we saw a few of them in this chapter. Virtual cookies go out to bookishangel who got six of the parents right. It's just a pity she forgot about Canada…Poor guy, even fans don't remember him. And I am doing this when I'm meant to be sleeping. Oh well.**

**Next chapter the Exams begin. Now I just need to work out how the big fight between Sasuke and Naruto will go because frankly, they don't really give a damn about each other. Which is understandable really. **

**And now, I will bid you guys goodnight, cos I'm going to bed! XD**


	10. Fights, Exams and A Bet

**Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I was on a family holiday in Queensland and then shit was happening at school and I needed to get a lot of work done. Damn, that place has some fucking awesome theme parks and rides though. I got to go on Arkham Asylum and Green Lantern in MovieWorld. I should really be studying for History but meh, I figured I owed you guys an update. So yeah, this chapter starts a little before the last one ended so that the perspectives of the Rookie Nine get recorded. **

**Oh yeah, something I forgot to put in last chapter. Most of the Jinchuriki will have similar personalities to their parents but slightly different and the only ones who will act like their parents do around each other consistently will be Yugito and Gaara. Cos, their parents have the strongest mutual feelings.**

**I've been getting urges to write a lot of crossover Naruto stuff but figured I shouldn't start multi-chapter stories before getting a lot of this one out of the way.**

**Disclaimer: If you haven't seen these things that I've been putting up since the second chapter then you are ridiculously unobservant. NOT MINE!**

Sakura watched as Naruto wandered over to the group of people causing a ruckus in the far end of the room. So many of them were shouting that she couldn't actually make out what was being said. It worried her slightly that Naruto's first inclination once entering the room was to wander over to a seemingly psychotic group of people. Still, it was better than him staying and causing trouble here. Greeting her former classmates, she put the matter out of her mind.

"Sakura! Where's Naruto-kun?" demanded Ino, bounding up to Sasuke and Sakura. Despite how annoying Naruto could get, Sasuke didn't feel like inflicting the torture of Ino's presence on him.

"He's around here somewhere but I don't think you should break his concentration. It would be bad if you made it through the Exams and he didn't because you were bothering him too much, right?" Apparently Sakura felt the same way about it.

Ino's face paled at the thought of ruining Naruto's chances and by extension ruining her chances of being with him. Sasuke smirked, she was way too predictable. He shivered; it would have been a nightmare if she had kept being his fangirl. He nodded at Shikamaru and Choji, pitying them for having Ino as a teammate.

After the arrival of Kiba and his team which lead to the customary shouting that he seemed incapable of going without, a teenager with silver hair walked over to the group, a mildly annoyed expression on his face.

"You guys should really be much quieter, it's obvious to everyone here that you're a bunch of rookies and these guys are all the best of the best of each village. The last thing you want to be doing is draw their attention as potential targets. Furthermore-" The boy was cut off by a large amount of shouting in gibberish and the whole room turned to see Naruto and some weird blonde boy screaming before launching themselves at the other and trying to kill them.

As one entity, every one of the 'rookies' sighed and facepalmed.

"Jesus Christ, we can't leave him alone for even five minutes without him trying to kill somebody." lamented Sakura whilst Sasuke shook his head in exasperation.

"I pity you guys for having to deal with him on a daily basis." stated Shikamaru whilst Choji nodded in agreement.

"Meh, you get used to it after a while." Sakura shrugged.

"Pretty much, so wait who were you again?" asked Sasuke; turning to the previously forgotten boy who had been standing there with an increasingly ticked off expression.

"Ah, my name is Kabuto and this is my seventh time doing the exams but because it's bi-annual, only my fourth year."

"Wow, you must really suck! Right Sasuke?" declared Kiba, not noticing the annoyed expression on the other boy's face.

"I am not taking either side in this." responded Sasuke with a perfect poker face.

"Huh? Why?" there were several blinks and expressions of surprise. Since when did Sasuke turn down the chance to insult somebody?

"I decided recently that a lot of my troubles come from agreeing with one side in an argument, as thus I have decided to stay neutral in any and all topics I come across now and in the future."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "This is because you always get caught up in arguments between me and Naruto isn't it?"

"Yes."

"So anyway, you must know an awful lot about the exams if you've taken them so many times Kabuto." pointed out Shikamaru, who had grown tired of having to deal with Team Seven's eccentricities. Apparently Naruto's insanity was contagious.

"Indeed I do. For example, I have managed to gather a lot of data on many of the competitors in this exam. Is there anyone you want to know about?"

"Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto." replied Shino, promptly. When everyone turned to stare at him, he shrugged.

"What? It's always useful to know about people you'll end up fighting. That way you're more likely to win." Clearly, Kiba's competitiveness had rubbed off on Shino.

"Alright then, Haruno Sakura; Genin of the leaf village, team mate to Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, graduated with some of the highest academical scores ever seen in the academy, sadly her chakra stores and physical condition are much lower, she has taken part in thirty-seven D-rank missions and one C-turned-A-rank mission. Next Uchiha Sasuke-" A shuriken flew through the card and sliced it in half.

"Nobody tells my secrets!" There was silence for a few moments whilst everyone tried to work out where the shuriken came from and why the hell Sasuke had become so trigger happy.

"Okay, unto Uzumaki Naruto! Genin of the leaf village, team mate to Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, incredibly high stamina, strength, speed and chakra stores, has an unusual talent for both reading people and intimidating them, his preferred weapon is a metal pipe from a sink faucet-wait what? Could someone explain that to me please?"

Sakura shrugged, "He's Naruto." And that sadly was all she really needed to say.

Kabuto blinked, "I still don't get it."

"And you probably never will." was the cryptic response.

"Continuing on, he has completed thirty-seven D-rank missions, one C-turned-A-rank mission and one unranked and unofficial mission from before he was a genin."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Now _that_ doesn't surprise me at _all_."

To Kabuto's surprise, there were many nods accompanying this. Interesting, clearly Uzumaki was much more eccentric than previously believed. And from some of the things he'd heard, what he'd believed before was pretty damn eccentric.

He was about to insult the Sound village team to demonstrate some of what they were capable of as planned when the proctor for the first exam arrived.

"Alright brats! I am Ibiki, your proctor for the first exam. The only time you will be allowed to fight is if we tell you are. Understood? I'm talking to you two over there." He stated, glaring at Uzumaki and the boy who he had been fighting with before. The boy glared at the proctor whilst Uzumaki seemed to grin, his violet eyes flashing and a dark purple aura spreading around him whilst he seemed to be chanting something under his breath. Kabuto was surprised to see Ibiki – the man known and feared around the Elemental Countries for being one of the best in torture and interrogation – shiver.

There was something slightly off about Uzumaki….

Naruto sighed, this exam was pathetic. He had answered all the questions. Really, who would find this stuff difficult? Trajectories were easy to calculate, they taught it in secondary school for God's Sake. He decided to help Ibiki out by creating a threatening atmosphere. Not because he was a nice, kind or helpful person. More because he was bored as hell and it had been absolutely fucking _ages_ since he had got to inspire terror amongst the general public. Stupid, annoying team mates with their stupid, annoying morals…

Temari was freaked out. This exam was easy and she should be feeling confidant and strong but instead she was feeling panicky and a sense of hopelessness descended upon her. She was even beginning to hear things.

_Kolkolkolkol_

Kankuro shivered as he stepped back into the exam room. Clearly Ibiki's reputation was well earned if he could push a tension this far. It was tempting to stay outside the room but he would be disqualified. He made his way back to his seat. He really wished that unnerving noise would stop ringing in his ears though.

_Kolkolkolkol_

Ibiki frowned. He wasn't releasing that much KI or an intimidating aura; was he? His eye roamed the room stopping on the tall, pale boy sitting quietly sitting at his desk, grinning maniacally whilst a fiery purple aura spread around him and Ibiki could see his lips forming what was now Konoha's most infamous chant. Ah, that was what it was.

_Kolkolkolkol_

Gaara did his best to supress his sniggers. Ah Naruto, annoying as fuck sometimes but hilarious to have around. Especially when he got into one of his cheeky moods that he seemed to have gotten into now; if the fact that the tension in the room grew progressively was any indication. The Jinchuriki may be incredibly mature and adult like but even they had a childishly mischievous side. When Gaara got in one of those moods, he tended to be very cheeky with roundabout vague answers that frustrated the people questioning him. Especially because he usually precluded the questioning by messing around with supplies or vandalising important monuments or just really being silly and playing stupid pranks or doing annoying things. Replacing all the elevator music with 'The Song That Never Ends' had been a stroke of genius. Especially when all the kids starting singing it everywhere.

_Kolkolkolkol_

Han shook his head in exasperation of Naruto's childish behaviour but couldn't contain the small smirk crossing his face. Naruto really did enjoy fucking with people's minds and Han couldn't deny that the terrified, panicked and 'I want to run home to my mother' expressions were hilarious. The fact that Ibiki would probably get the flak for it afterwards made it even funnier. After all, why would the Third Hokage believe that Naruto would do such an immature thing as scare a bunch of other kids for no reason? And even if he did, there wasn't much he could really do about it.

_Kolkolkolkol_

"Alright!" shouted Ibiki; making almost the entire room jump three feet in the air. Mentally, he applauded the pale Jinchuriki. That was an impressive level of intimidation and fear to get to. Even with training.

After the final question that weeded out a lot of the contestants because Naruto didn't give a damn about their dreams or feelings and knew they couldn't prevent other countries from having new Chunins. The window was blown open by a brown blur which opened to reveal Konoha's very own Snake Mistress Anko in front of a banner that proudly proclaimed her to be "Sexy and Single'. Many of the Genins were staring. The boys in awe and inability to control their hormones, the girls in mild disgust and reproach apart from a small group of kids. Anko's eyes roved over them.

A blonde girl in blue and red with shoulder length, wavy blonde hair twirling her fingers around a strand disinterestedly before taking out a rose and spinning it around her finger and then turning around and offering it to the messy haired blonde, green eyed boy behind her - who had previously been staring and muttering at nothing – who scowled at her and then snarled something in response that she laughed at, before he swirled his sand around to form a barrier between them and pointedly began to ignore her although not successfully, judging by the twitching eyebrow which lead to Anko suspecting that the blonde girl was insulting him.

Behind them watching with a mild look of exasperation and irritation was a black and brown haired boy respectively before the brown haired boy got somewhat bored of the two, now arguing, blondes and offered what looked to be a load of sweets and got sucked into the argument-turning-full-out-war between the two as a peace keeper. The black haired boy laughed softly before turning to the red-brown haired boy with the weird hair curl who appeared to be harassing the blonde boy with a cowlick whilst the blonde boy with his hair slicked back tried to separate the two whilst apologising.

The silvery-blonde haired Uzumaki boy was busy polishing his new metal pipe and talking animatedly to what Anko thought was thin air but in fact on further study turned out to be a blonde girl with wavy hair and a curl sticking out of her fringe to the front. Anko blinked. How had she missed her? She was a Shinobi; it was her job to notice things! All in all, they were a strange group of people. And obviously they were a group as they had moved together after the First Exam which she had discreetly watched.

"Alright that's enough!" she declared; breaking up the fight between the two original blondes. The both froze; slightly surprised expressions on their faces. Clearly they forgot where they were. The brunet shot her a grateful look. Obviously the two fought a lot. "Well, not too bad Ibiki! A respectable number this time around." She grinned. She would never let him forgot last time when he had let almost thirty teams pass the exam. This time it was twenty two. Still pretty high but not really all that bad.

"Okay brats! Next Exam starts in two hours. Grab your supplies and meet up at Training Ground 44. That is all!" she shouted, before departing as dramatically as she arrived.

Sakura turned to invite Naruto to join her and the rest of the rookies for lunch, only to see him already leaving with the group he had joined before the Exam started. She couldn't help but feel slightly abandoned. She sighed and announced that Naruto had already left and why.

"What? He ditched us, his friends for several years, for a bunch of weirdos he only met today or a couple of days ago for two of them?" Kiba was quite obviously upset and his feelings were mirrored by the rest of the group. Sure, Naruto had terrorised them for several years and probably caused mild trauma but he had calmed down in later years and they had grown used to him needing to be around them. For him to find a new set of friends made them feel abandoned and actually somewhat jealous, to their surprise.

Meanwhile, Naruto was completely unaware of the feelings brewing amongst his first set of friends. To be fair this was mainly because he was busy being entertained by Yugito and Gaara's continued argument. Who knew watching two of your friends try to kill each other at a Ramen Bar was so entertaining?

"The fuck are you even wearing? That has to be one of the tackiest things I've ever seen! It's even worse than your haircut!"

"It's better than wearing something so flashy and overdramatic that you can be seen from several miles away! And having long hair is a disadvantage in combat! There's more to catch onto things and it makes it easier for enemies to catch you!"

"Well at least I don't have those facial disfigurements that you call eyebrows!"

"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY EYEBROWS?" At that Gaara leapt at Yugito and another one of their brawls began.

Han groaned, "Damn it! Now I have to pay the tab for lunch and the next time we go out!"

Naruto snickered, "Really Han. You shouldn't have had so much faith in Gaara's ability to control his temper where his eyebrows are concerned. It was obvious that that was going to be the breaking point."

"I know that now. But I thought it would be the fairy delusions for sure!"

"Wait, you guys were taking bets on what would make Gaara start fighting?" demanded Utakata, shocked.

"AHAHAHAH! That's awesome!" grinned Bee whilst Fu rolled her eyes at his lack of subtlety.

"What else would we bet on? Besides think about it like this, free lunch!" declared Naruto happily.

"Wait, Han said he had to pay the tab next time you go out as well. What does that mean?"

"Oh that. That's just when Gaara, Naruto and I go and have night messing around together. We did one earlier a couple of days ago."

"So it was you three that painted the Hyuuga compound bright pink, sprayed lots of different perfumes in the Inuzuka compound and unleashed a plague of toads across town, concentrated near the Aburame hives?" questioned Ayame with a raised eyebrow.

"Ohh, so that's what happened! I was wondering about that." Naruto grinned cheerfully; ignoring the angry and exasperated looks he was being sent with skilled ease.

"Ve~ they're still fighting guys!" declared Roshi cheerfully; still stuffing his face happily with ramen which he had declared was close enough to pasta earlier.

"Really?" asked Naruto interested.

"Are you kids incapable of being silent or something?" demanded a familiar voice.

The seven kids not currently fighting turned in their seats to face the blonde haired man that Han and Naruto had met in the forest. Arthur Kirkland, hadn't it been?

"Hello there, welcome to Ichiraku's; we're sorry for the disturbance. We're not usually this noisy." Ayame apologised before turning to the Jinchuriki, "And don't you guys have to meet up for the next test soon?"

Eyes wide, Han looked at his watch. "Shit! Guys, we've got to go. We have ten minutes before we need to be there and we don't even know the way!" Looks of horror, shock and mild worry appeared on the faces of the six jinchuriki paying attention. A mild tick appeared on Han's forehead as he realised Yugito and Gaara were still fighting. It was at this moment that he lost his temper with both of them.

"YUGITO! GAARA! STOP FUCKING FIGHTING FOR TWO MINUTES AND TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN HELPING US FIND THE LOCATION SO THAT WE'RE NOT LATE FOR THE NEXT TEST!" he roared at the two unfortunate blondes who immediately froze; tell-tale signs of their fight visible. After a bit more discussion, the Jinchuriki left so as not to be late.

England stood there shaking his head in disbelief. That was just ridiculous although it had been interesting to hear part of their conversation. He sat down at the counter and sent a text of to the members of the group – _except _France, knowing fine rightly that the man would find the place anyway – telling them where he was, figuring it might be nice to try the place after coming in here purely because of the shouts and fighting. He then stowed his phone back in his pocket before someone could see it and question him about it.

"So, this is the place you found Eng-Arthur?" asked Germany, the last to arrive; walking through the entrance; catching himself before using England's nation name.

England nodded his head. "Yes, this is the place Ludwig."

"Forgive me for asking this but how did you even discover this place Arthur-san?" asked Japan mildly.

"It was very noisy before I arrived here." Responded England cryptically.

There was general confusion on everyone's part before Ayame decided to clear things up after taking the orders.

"The Jinchuriki were in here earlier. As nice as they are, they are incredibly noisy. It really isn't a surprise that he found the place with Yugito and Gaara fighting and shouting at each other like that. And then there's the fact that Han and Naruto were making bets on what would cause Gaara to snap and start fighting and Bee and Roshi aren't exactly what you call quiet either."

There was some widening of eyes as the nations at the table recognised the name of their respective child and guessed that the whole lot of them had been there.

"Where are they now?" asked Russia, curiously.

"They had to go to the next test. I hope they make it out okay…" Ayame trailed off.

Naturally this confused and worried the nations and after they got her to elaborate for them; the meal passed in silence with Ayame and her father watching in concern of the aura of worry and fear hanging around them.

It was funny, Russia reflected, how the Chunin Exams had seemed so funny and entertaining sounding at home but now that he knew his child was competing, it was tearing him apart from the sheer amount of fear, worry and anxiety. It was a wonder parents here allowed their kids to even become Shinobi. God knows he wanted to storm Hokage Tower right now and demand that Sarutobi took Naruto off the register and let him take up a more safe and productive career. The other nations probably felt the same way. But all they could do was pray to God that their children made it out okay.

Gaara grinned cheekily at the Proctor as she declared they were late. He was in one of those 'I want to tell a completely bull-shit story to annoy people' moods. And thus he took a deep breath and began his story.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with a childish side to him. Nice to know. He decided to watch everyone's expressions as they listened to the story, intrigued as he saw the initially annoyed, sceptic and exasperated expressions fade away as they got drawn into the story.

Even if his fairies were the results of delusions, he was incredibly good at telling such a long and convoluted story that by the time he stopped, the person angry at him and forgotten what they were angry about.

"..and that my dear proctor is why we were late!" declared Gaara with a flourish.

Anko blinked for a few seconds and then tried to remember what had started the story in the first place. Her brow wrinkled as she tried to remember back five minutes to when he started. "You…that…just…Fuck it, whatever. Let's get on with this already!" She turned around and announced the second test to the group.

Gaara didn't pay attention, more focused on the thumbs up, pats on the back and grins he had gotten from his fellow Jinchuriki. He had spent his entire childhood in what he had heard jokingly refered to as his 'Splendid Isolation' where he essentially closed off from people entirely and ignored anything said to him whatsoever.

"Finally, I get to use Aleksei. I've been meaning to test it out since it's a new one." Naruto grinned, dark thoughts forming about finally being able to damage people without getting in trouble.

"Aleksei?" questioned Sakura with her eyebrow raised; not even sure she wanted to know what that meant.

"Da, my pipe." Was the short response.

"Okay, first of all, you name your pipe? Second of all, Aleksei? That's a ridiculous sounding name!"

"Nyet! It is a fine and noble name and there is nothing wrong with calling it that! Besides it's my pipe anyway!"

"It's completely stupid and ridiculous! Right Sasuke?" Sakura demanded; forgetting Sasuke's recent declaration.

"I am neutral."

"Fuck that! You've got to pick a side."

"Make me give up my neutrality and I will throw so many kunai at you, you won't be able to move and will have to go to hospital!"

Sakura retaliated angrily and Naruto tilted his head and smiled winningly at the proctor when she turned around, standing in front of his now arguing team mates and projecting an air of pure innocence.

After, Sasuke and Sakura calmed down and Kiba had idiotically belittled the test, resulting in his face getting cut open, the Second Exam truly began.

Naruto grinned as he led his team to the gate, what was the worst that could happen?

Unbeknownst to the Genin, a shadowy figure half in and out of one of the trees in the forest was watching them. Nine of them in particular. The eyes narrowed and the shape faded into the tree to re-emerge inside a dark cave with several other shadowed figures. One of the figures spoke up.

"Was the information correct?" it questioned in a cold and emotionless voice.

"Indeed, all Nine were in fact there. It will be easy to make the move now, before they grow too strong or respected. After all, no-one will notice if they disappear at this point in time. And it's not like they have parents or guardians around to keep them safe."

"Very well, we shall take the next month or so to begin preparing and planning for our move. We will strike at the Exams Final. That will be the ideal time as they will be so busy panicking that no-one will notice they are gone until we have them and even if they do want them back, there won't be the resources to regain them. Now, everyone listen carefully, this is what you have to do…"

Far away, Sarutobi shivered. He had a feeling that something was going to go very wrong, very soon.

**So there you have it. Sorry that it was such a short chapter compared to some of my other ones but I honestly couldn't think of any more filler parts to it and whilst I could go into more detail about the tests and such, I don't feel like it because everyone who's read the manga knows how it goes anyway. Besides, this is technically an AU so it's not like those are as important as the non-canon events such as the bonding between the Jinchuriki. By the way, interesting fact for you guys, I was mostly finished righting Anko's views of the Jinchuriki when I realised I had completely forgotten to add in Fu who's dad is Canada. God, even I forget…**

**Most of you will probably know what's going to happen when we start seriously diverting from canon but just know that after the 'Finding Tsunade' part of the storyline I will finish up the story to begin on the sequel. I honestly have no idea how I will work this whole thing out but I have some ideas floating around my head. Just a quick question, qould anybody be interested in me making this a whole AU universe where I would write about the other Jinchuriki's childhood and things from their lives or should I leave this as a couple of stories focused on Naruto?**

**Can't think of anything else to say apart from how sorry I am for taking so long to update. I know by other's standards it probably wasn't that long but compared to how quickly I usually update, it was pretty slow. Aside from that, I think we're good. By the way, just out of interest, des anyone actually read all the way through my Author's Notes?**

**Catch you all next time!**


	11. Wholesale Destruction and Pissed Dads

**Hey guys. Sorry it took so long, I had work experience and then exams and then the computers at school stopped working and my dad took me off the internet. Just thought I'd elaborate about last chapter. Yes, Sasuke is being all neutral and stuff but he is **_**not **_**the son of Switzerland and the same goes for the other Hetalia-like characters. Their personalities were developed by so much time spent with certain influences. The only children of the countries are the jinchuriki. Which means that non-jinchuriki characters may have traits of certain countries but will also have their own personalities overlapping that.**

**Haku probably won't be showing up that much in this story mainly because he's not really a main character. Tak also won't be showing for a while because as I have said before, he is a **_**companion **_**not a fighting partner. He couldn't do anything in combat to save his life. **

**And just so you guys know for future, Aleksei (Naruto's pipe) is a Russian name with Greek origins I think, and it means 'defender'. For those of you who don't know, I'm pretty sure that Russia's pipe is called 'Sasha' which is a Russian name which means 'Defender of man'. I figured that since Russia's pipe has a name that means something about defence, Naruto's should follow on that theme. **

**Disclaimer: Once again I repeat myself. THIS. IS. NOT. MINE.**

Naruto had decided that he hated trees. He just hated trees because they were so big…and green…and annoying…yes, those were the reasons he hated trees, nothing to do with the fact that he had tripped over tree roots, smacked into tree trunks, hit his head on low hanging branches and been whacked in the face by long thin branches multiple times in the last ten minutes. Nope, nothing to do with that at all. And if his teammates didn't stop sniggering at him then Aleksei would be getting broken in early.

Perhaps Sakura noticed something in his expression or she secretly became a telepath recently but she quickly nudged Sasuke and made 'shut up' motions. Excellent, now Naruto could concentrate on the important things, like breaking every moral code his teammates had tried to instil into him. Maybe ditch them and join up with Gaara and Han for a bit of terrorising. Decisions, decisions. Oh, terrified screams. Ooo, look a bird!

He had nice boots, Gaara mused. It was a shame there was all that blood on them now. It was absolutely going to ruin the leather. And he had spent so _long_ cleaning it too. Well, at least he had a somewhat justifiable reason to kill these little bastards now…

Han was worried. He may not seem like it to the people around him but he was. He knew what Naruto and Gaara were like and the proctor had technically given them free reign to go out and kill people without getting into trouble. Yes, Han was very worried for the other occupants of the forest.

Fu sighed in exasperation as her teammates stopped and started panicking, thinking that she was lost yet again. _Honestly, _couldn't anybody keep aware of her presence for more than three minutes?

Utakata was looking curiously at the forest around him. His teammates had stopped for a drink at the river. This could be a good place to build a little town filled with restaurants and shops couldn't it? Nah, who would ever build mini-towns in remote places like this…

In Konoha, China sneezed causing several of the nations to panic.

Yugito was growling angry curses under her breath. She hated forests and survival tests. It was so hard to take care of her hair and keep her clothes clean. Not to mention at some point she was going to have to fight as well. Although if Bee didn't shut up soon, she _was_ going to kill him.

Bee was happy; he liked big forests like this. This was a big adventure and a chance to explore. Monsters to fight, baddies to defeat and a desired object to retrieve, this was just like in the stories! He'd always wanted to be a storybook hero…

Roshi was sad. They were going to be in the forest for the next few days and he didn't have time to bring any pasta or ramen! How was he going to manage? Well, at least he had Han with him.

Yagura was not worried. He would fight with dignity when it was required of him and deal with his problems the rest of the time. It wasn't like five days was that long a period of time after all. Decision made, he went back to making little figures out of sticks and mud. It was getting dark, should probably build shelter…

Naruto cursed as he tripped over another tree root. Damn trees! Why did he live in the village full of them in the middle of a forest in a forested country again? Because he really shouldn't considering how much he hated the things. Regaining his balance, Naruto's head smacked into a low hanging branch. He growled and started cursing profusely in his own language.

Sakura and Sasuke's sniggers died off as they noted the expression on Naruto's face. Unlike his 'normal' angry expression with the small smile and dark aura, Naruto actually looked angry. His eyes were narrowed, eyebrows lowered and his mouth was set in a scowl. Somehow, this was even scarier than normal. His current expression suggested that he would rip apart the next person to laugh at him with his bare hands. Luckily, they made their way out of Naruto's new and strange mood relatively unscathed.

The poor Oto team that was tailing them however, were not so fortunate. Later, Anko – being one of the many Konoha residents and few shinobi blissfully unaware of exactly what Naruto was capable of – would mark the horrific site of bloody and limb strewn devastation down as the work of Orochimaru.

Those more familiar with Naruto merely smiled and nodded, endeared by her ignorance.

Twenty minutes after Naruto's temper snapping, the tall boy was sitting happily by a fire in a clean set of his uniform, his other one drying after being washed in the stream to get the 'dirt' off the fabric. His platinum blonde hair flopping wetly into his eyes, slowly drying. He had been contemplating his lack of control and realised cheerfully that this would put him far ahead in the little game that he, Han and Gaara were playing and would give him a much needed advantage as _his _teammates weren't likely to let him kill too much.

For some weird reason, they seemed to think killing was _bad_.

Sakura and Sasuke had yet to say anything. They had never seen Naruto that vicious. It was a completely different level of anger. Had anybody who had attended the shinobi academy roughly twenty five years beforehand been there to see the sight, they would be able to tell quite a few stories about a hot-tempered girl with red hair who wore that same expression whenever she was furious.

"It is getting very dark now, da? I am thinking we should stay here." Naruto broke the silence, speaking quietly.

"That's fine." It was the first thing that Sakura had said since the incident.

Seeing Naruto react the way he usually did, she could handle. She'd gotten used to it actually, which was disturbing in itself. But in all honesty, Sakura would prefer to watch him traumatise the idiots that got in his way as opposed to literally ripping them apart.

Sasuke couldn't speak. The things he had just witnessed were as bad as the massacre, maybe worse. After all Itachi had just _killed_ the other clan members; he hadn't ripped them into pieces. And now Sasuke was one hundred percent sure that the one person who terrified him most in the world was definitely Naruto. He'd been pretty indecisive about it for a while, his mind arguing that Itachi could kill him like _that_ but Naruto could probably bulldoze right past Itachi's attacks and rip him apart as well.

It had been weird seeing Naruto like that, it was like he didn't even notice that he was moving faster than even Lee, that he was utilising physical strength at a level that nobody could possibly have or that there had been chunks of ice floating around him blocking the attacks as he reached his bloody goal.

The two 'normal' members of Team Seven wondered silently - _Naruto, what the hell are you?_

Zetsu stared at the bloody clearing in fascination. What had happened here? Did Orochimaru lose his temper at his genin team or something? Either way, the leader had to know. If there was an unknown in this equation then they would eliminate it.

Gaara glared at the clearing four feet away from him. Despite the fact that he had definitely killed more people, Naruto was going to get so many points from this. How could his sand coffin create such a wide spread of blood? And the bastard was going to get points for traumatising as well. It was going to take _forever_ to try and catch up on points.

Gaara swore.

Han had a very bad feeling that something not very good was going to happen that night. He shivered and signalled to his teammates that maybe it would be a good idea to find some shelter to stop for the night. One that would hide them _completely_ and maybe take shifts guarding as well.

Sarutobi froze at his desk with paperwork. Somehow, he got the feeling that he was going to be dealing with an international disaster very soon.

Russia was feeling strangely victorious for no real reason. He was in a good mood because of it though and that was alright.

England, oddly enough, had been in a sour temper all night for no reason that they could tell.

Germany had been glancing between the two nations all night, trying to work out why he felt on edge and panicky when looking at them. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go badly wrong and that he, Russia and England were going to be in the middle of it.

Naruto waited for a few moments after Sasuke fell asleep. No reason to let Gaara or Han get too much of a lead after all and there were bound to be plenty of animals running around at night. Not to mention the Chunin, Jonin and ANBU that would be hanging about the area. There were big points to be racked up now…

The new day dawned beautifully. The many occupants and visitors in Konoha woke up and smiled at the wonderful day that was sure to follow. Well, _most _of them anyway…

Sarutobi was not amused. Not at all. The three nations opposite him, even less so. They may all be early risers but it was six o'clock in the morning on their holiday, they didn't _want_ to be awake.

"Why are we here, Sarutobi? I was under the impression we would not be needing to meet you again, da?" Russia, the only one who really knew the Hokage and thus designated spokesperson, although if they had been more awake Germany and England would have protested, asked.

Sarutobi glared at him, expression deadly serious and extremely angry. There was not a flicker of fear across his visage which prompted the three visitors to sit up straight and pay attention.

"Were you aware of the fact that your three boys had started a game in the Forest of Death which operated on a points system?"

Russia snickered as England smirked faintly. Naruto _had _been busy hadn't he?

Sarutobi glared at the snickering and smirking nations.

"This is a political disaster! Over half the Forest's wildlife population obliterated, not to mention the damage the plants took as well! Thankfully, Han only targeted animals but Naruto and Gaara were personally responsible for the deaths of fifteen genin teams and twelve Chunin. This madness has to stop!"

England had stopped smirking, his eyes widening slightly and jaw dropping a barely noticeable amount. Germany looked somewhat worried at the implications of this game whilst Russia uncharacteristically looked angry.

Russia may be cruel and sadistic occasionally but even he followed the Nation code; if you weren't at war, don't kill people for no justifiable reason, attempting to kill nations was okay but never the actual people. Playing a game where the point was to kill people was not a justifiable reason. And you did _not_ mess with the environment. Non-nations had never understood these rules but when you could feel violent deaths of your people and your ecosystem made up part of your health and physical feelings, you did not mess with these things.

To nations, killing people and destroying ecosystems for no reason other than fun was criminal.

Sarutobi looked somewhat nervous, the righteous anger he had felt draining away as all three nations began to look murderous. He felt slightly sorry for the three boys now that he saw just what he had unleashed on them. But part of him was looking forward to seeing the three nations trying to punish teenage boys who had been allowed to do almost anything that they wanted with no consequences. It was sure to be entertaining. He knew for sure that Naruto had never really understood punishment.

To be fair to the boys, if you never had anything close to parental supervision and discipline, it was quite hard to take punishment seriously. It was guaranteed that any punishment would be met with confusion. After all, if you've never been punished how can you understand it? Naruto had been able to get away with drinking since he was seven because there was no-one who would devote enough time to making sure he was behaving well and Kakashi yelling at him for being irresponsible had only made him uncomfortable, it hadn't made him even think twice before he did it again.

Naruto shivered. Somehow, he had a feeling he was going to be introduced to something extremely unpleasant fairly soon. Oh, giant snake. Double points!

Sasuke stood in the clearing opposite the weird female Grass ninja. Where was Naruto when you needed him? Snickering the opposing ninja made hand seals and began to stretch their neck forward, head flying towards Sasuke and mouth opening wide showing fangs, Sakura watched in horror as the head closed in on Sasuke and-

CLANG

The head went flying back stunned for a few seconds. Spitting out blood, the ninja glared at the genin who had interrupted their plan.

He was obviously in his early teens but unusually tall for that age – a couple of inches short of six feet – extremely pale with violet eyes and messy platinum blonde hair. He was in a trench coat, combat boots and khaki military trousers. The two most notable things about him though were; the long pale pink scarf he was wearing and the fact that he was drenched in blood and grinning.

Orochimaru grinned also; he was going to enjoy this.

Naruto gave as good as he had, really he did. Unfortunately, he was significantly outmatched even with his natural advantages. This became apparent early on as he smashed into a tree courtesy of the snake that he didn't even see get summoned. Growling, he heaved himself onto his feet glaring at the large snake.

Leaping right at the blasted thing again and cursing as its tail flicked out smacking him in the ribs, Naruto unknowingly caught the attention of Russia – and by extension the other nations with him – by mentally screaming _'Why won't you just fucking die?'_.

Russia stiffened, he might not have heard the words Naruto was thinking but he could feel the emotions running rampant throughout the pale teen. Germany and England watched the frozen nation warily.

Naruto glared at the trees where the Sanin had taken off, declaring that he'd wasted too much time on them and was going to come back for 'Sasuke-kun's body' some other time and apparently Sasuke would join him for power soon enough. Naruto hadn't really been listening, too focused on trying to come up with ways to kill all snakes and trees without getting in trouble.

Spitting blood out of his mouth he stood up and joined his teammates who were looking at him exasperatedly.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Do you think you could not keep turning up like that?" asked Sasuke sardonically.

Naruto looked down at his blood covered clothes then back up to his teammates.

Clothes.

Teammates.

Clothes.

Teammates.

"I don't see anything wrong." He said cheerfully.

Sakura and Sasuke sighed simultaneously.

Eventually making their way to the tower, they unrolled their scrolls and revealed Iruka who was waiting for them.

"Congratulations on making it out of- Naruto! Why are you covered in blood?"

"Relax sensei, it's not _mine_."

"THAT MAKES IT EVEN WORSE!"

Snickering, Sasuke and Sakura sat back to watch the show.

**Sorry its short guys but I couldn't figure out exactly where to go with this and I wanted to get an update out there. So because I suck at writing fighting scenes, the next chapter is probably going to start just after the fights. I'll write an AN to let you guys know exactly what the results were and stuff so that's about it. Again, sorry for the shortness and how long it took to update this. Hopefully, inspiration will strike soon.**


	12. The Punishment and the Reactions

**So I wasn't sure exactly where I was gonna go with this chapter and put it off for as long as I could whilst I came up with an idea. I'm sorry baby; I just didn't know how I was going to develop your story. I am done explaining most of what's going to happen in the chapter because it just feels pointless when I do another explanation at the bottom anyway. So from now on, explanations happen at the end of a chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Nyet, I do not own Naruto, Hetalia or any other fandom I write for…**

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><p>Several days after Naruto and teams defeat at the hands of Orochimaru, race to the tower in the training ground and preliminaries for the final exams; Sarutobi, Russia, England and Germany were again sitting in the office. Sarutobi and Russia were having a glaring contest; each blaming the other for how Naruto turned out.<p>

"So."

"So."

An awkward silence ensued.

"They all made it to the finals. That's something at least." England tried to lighten the mood.

Russia and Sarutobi continued to have a glaring match. Germany sighed.

"You two need to stop blaming each other. It's obvious that the boy developed like this whilst Sarutobi was blaming Russia and thus being ignored by the person who may have been able to teach him otherwise."

Sarutobi and Russia ignored him in favour of glaring.

England and Germany shared an exasperated glance.

"I don't know if you two idiots remember but we have punishments to sort out."

That at least got the two to pay attention. Silently agreeing to continue what had degenerated into a staring contest later, Sarutobi and Russia engaged England and Germany into a discussion about what kind of punishment they should use.

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><p><strong>THREE HOURS LATER<strong>

"Ugh, this is impossible!" England finally exclaimed. "We don't really know enough about the little bastards to devise a suitable punishment. The best thing we could come up with is banning alcohol which let's be honest, wouldn't stop them drinking at all or rectify their behaviour."

"Not to mention that they'd probably only pick up pointers if we sent them to the I&T department." Sighed Sarutobi tiredly.

"That is most likely, I would."

"I know _you_ would, not that you really need them…."

"Let's think about this logically, what would be the most frustrating thing for a group of teenaged boys who have been in charge of their whole lives until this point be?" Germany, always the logical thinker, questioned.

"Some form of losing that control I would think."

"I have an idea. How about we combine the different punishments we have discussed? We put them under someone's direct supervision, that person would be in control of where they went, when they went and what they did whilst there. We also put them under certain behavioural restrictions and we get them to do administration work here in the tower. With their final exams coming up, they will be somewhat worried about training and this will not only teach them to respect both the time they need for training and their free time but also make them understand the huge privilege they've had so far in their lives by being free to run them however they wish."

"When would you remove these punishments?"

"The restrictions will most likely be lifted sometime after the final exams, ditto for the administration work. As for the supervision, that will be removed once they prove to me and their respective leaders that they are actually mature enough to behave themselves appropriately and can be responsible about being in charge of their lives. Also, there will be another punishment that the Kages of the villages involved and I are still working out. Rest assured, it will be harsh. Now, I think we should summon the boys up here to let them know."

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><p>The room temperature plummeted and an icy feel begin to permeate the room.<p>

"What?" Naruto's expression was unusually dark for him, no trace of a smile or any kind of glee. Somehow, the fury was even more intense than it had been before he killed the Grass genin.

Standing next to him, Gaara was imperceptibly shaking with anger, his green eyes dark and narrowed.

Han stood silently at the left, his blue eyes watching the other two warily but otherwise emotionless.

Sarutobi glared right back at Naruto. "You heard exactly what I said. The other Hokages and I have given the three, no all of you, too much free reign with your lives. As such, you obviously haven't learnt proper responsibility."

Han felt like protesting, he'd been nothing but responsible his whole life. He'd managed to live on his own from practically the time he was born. But he had agreed to the stupid game and definitely been nothing but irresponsible since he arrived in Konoha so he swallowed his retort and stood stoically.

"I can tell you right now, that all of your little group will be suffering the consequences for this."

"That's not fair!" Gaara blurted out against his better judgement. For the first time in his life he'd felt like he belonged and now he'd brought something negative onto the whole group.

"Neither is sneaking around and slaughtering every living thing that doesn't have the advantage of a Biju within them to keep them alive."

Gaara fell silent.

"If you'd been protecting yourselves or your teammates then I could forgive it but all three of you went out of your way to kill unsuspecting shinobi and animals. As for why the others will be getting punished, they didn't try to stop you despite being much more suited for it than most. Also, after discussing it with the other Kages, we have decided that you three will not be promoted to chunin nor will you be allowed to take part in these exams for the next four years minimum, you want to be part of these exams you have to prove that you are emotionally mature enough for it. Although, this time you will be allowed to compete in the final stage of the exams because it would mess up the system if we pulled you out now. Also, all of you will be sticking with the diplomats that are visiting with your villages at all times. They will also stay with you and be supervising you the entire time you are with them. You cannot go anywhere without their permission, you can't do anything without their permission, they will tell you what you will be doing and when and you _will _do it. Even if they tell you to go to bed and its three o'clock in the afternoon. The only times you will be allowed to train is when they agree to either take part or supervise you. We're all sick of dealing with your immaturity; if you insist on acting like children then you can be damn well sure that we are going to start treating you like ones. That is all. I imagine the diplomats are waiting for you outside."

Sarutobi turned back to his paperwork, ignoring the nonplussed and somewhat horrified expressions on the teenage boys' faces. He was feeling rather smug about this punishment actually, the jinchuriki were used to ruling themselves, so now they were losing all control. Much as he hated to admit it, because of the large amount of freedom that Naruto had had his entire life; no matter what punishment was given to him, he just ignored it and continued on with what he was doing before. From the sounds of it, the other jinchuriki were the same.

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><p>Han, Gaara and Naruto left the Hokage's office, dazed. This had never happened to any of them before. Naruto was in shock that he was being punished, Gaara was furious that he had lost control of his life and Han was horrified that he had lost any chance of getting promoted for at least the next four years. Not to mention that they had brought a punishment upon their fellow jinchuriki and wouldn't even get the chance to explain unless their new supervisors allowed them to. <em>And<em> they had to do administration work as well. The day had just plain sucked.

The three countries were chatting quietly amongst themselves when they heard the beginning of Sarutobi's tirade to the boys. England winced in sympathy, Russia continued to polish his metal pipe and Germany looked resigned. This most likely wouldn't endear them to their children but the boys had to learn that there were consequences to every action.

The door opened and the three boys stepped out. It would have been obvious to even the most oblivious civilian that Gaara was furious. Han had an expression of such shock and horror that he seemed almost to be in danger of suffering a mental breakdown at any point in time. Naruto, most concerningly, was just staring into the distance, his face blank and gloved hands trembling slightly; he didn't seem to be aware of anything at all, an impression further given by the way that Gaara almost had to drag the taller boy over to the countries.

"Right then. I suppose that we had better head our separate ways then. I'll see you two later." England waved goodbye to Germany and Russia and then left with his fuming son.

Russia nodded to the two Germans and then took Naruto gently by the shoulder and guided him down the corridor, the teenager seemingly still out of it.

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><p>Han watched the two boys who had been his first proper friends ever, Roshi was less a friend and more an annoyance who had latched onto him without ever leaving, as they walked away from him and he was left alone with the tall blonde man that he vaguely remembered from that morning that the three of them woke up hung-over.<p>

He would never admit it to anyone but he was somewhat scared of the man. He'd never spoken to him although Roshi had been happy to latch onto him and the just as irritatingly cheerful red headed man who had come with the man. He was reasonably confident that both of them were used to having their own way without compromising and also that their ideas of what should be happening would clash.

The man jerked his head in the direction the others had walked in, "Come on."

Following after the diplomat, stumbling slightly as he tried to keep up with the longer stride, Han asked, "Where are we going?"

"To pick up my stuff and leave it where you're staying."

Right, he'd forgotten he'd be living close quarters with this guy. Gott, kill him now.

"I'm in the finals for the exams and kinda need to get prepared for the uh, fights and I really don't want to embarrass my village further and-" Great, he was babbling; he hadn't done that since he was five years old.

"Either get to the point or stop talking."

"When will I get to train?"

"When I say you do."

Resigning himself to a lack of forthcoming information, Han walked in silence, he was nervous and anxious and really did not want to spend God knows how long in the company of this man.

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><p>Gaara caught the stricken look that Han shot him as the man -what was his name? Arthur?- strode down the corridor. Tough luck, that's the way it goes; sometimes you have to do things you don't want to. He followed after the man, almost running to catch up to the man's impossibly fast stride.<p>

"What's going to happen now?" He did _not_ sound sulky as he asked.

"We are going to get my stuff and then head to where you're staying to drop it off."

"And then what?" He was _not_ sulking damn it.

"Then we'll talk about how this is going to work from now on. No doubt you'll scream and protest and cry like a little brat but that's just tough luck. You're lucky you know. You could have ended up with Ivan or Ludwig like your friends. At least I'm somewhat close to being reasonable."

Gaara felt a sudden wave of apprehension for his friends. Maybe Han had had a good reason to look nervous being left with that taller blonde man; after all, he had travelled with him; Han was bound to know him better than Gaara did.

Then again, _he_ didn't know all that much about this man aside from the fact that he liked his tea and couldn't hold a drink to save his life.

If he was honest though, the one that Gaara and no doubt Han were worried about was Naruto. It was like the tallest boy had completely shut down after that ridiculously old Kage had sat down and turned his attention away from them. He didn't understand exactly but he had the feeling that this might not be the first time that the Hokage had shut Naruto out.

And damn it if this ended up hurting Naruto, he was going to _destroy_ that senile old man. Gaara had never had many friends and Naruto was easily one of the best he'd ever had. Never let it be said that he let people hurt someone precious to him and get away with it.

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><p>Naruto was numb inside, he'd been shut out again. He wasn't good enough. Never good enough. Why couldn't he be better? He'd gotten it wrong again, the Hokage was never going to care about him again. He'd lost everything because he'd been stupid and impulsive. No doubt he'd lose Han and Gaara as well. It was just as well, he was a monster. Always had been, always would be. His own damn <em>parents<em> hadn't wanted him. Why would anyone else?

There was a light cuff to his shoulder. Naruto blinked and looked at it's source. Mr Braginski was looking at him with that same smile on his face that was always there.

"_Hey, good to see you snapped out of it. I was beginning to get worried."_

Worried? About him? Why? Nobody ever worried about him. He was Naruto Uzumaki, he could take on the whole damn world and come out on top. He had to, no one was going to carry or save him if he fell down or lost.

"_Sorry, was there something you needed?"_

"_Well, I've got my stuff so I just need you to take me to your place so we can talk about this properly."_

"_Okay."_

What was this man going to do to him? He'd trusted Sarutobi, how could the man hand him over to the mercy of this stranger? Mr Braginski could murder him in his sleep and nobody would notice. Hell, they'd probably celebrate his death if they did realise he was gone. And they'd be right to.

He was a monster after all.

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><p><strong>I am so sorry that this took so long, I've had a lot of stress recently plus I had writers block for a bit and my laptop wasn't working.<strong>

**This chapter wasn't all that long but we got to see into the different perspectives of the three boys. Incidentally, I've been trying to think of a name to describe those three, like the Bad Touch Trio but couldn't come up with anything. Anybody have any suggestions.**

**And yes, Naruto does have a rather low self-esteem but look at it this way. All the other jinchuriki have had somebody in their life to tell them that what the people say behind their backs and to their faces isn't really true. Naruto didn't. Little wonder that he believes he's a monster. Particularly as how he used to treat the people around him is now starting to become something he's noticing so he's got quite a bit of guilt building up.**

**And yes, Han is scared of Germany. He's only recently turned thirteen after all and I would be pretty damn scared of a guy like that if I was his age.**

**And Gaara is definitely more open about how he feels with his friends. If anyone hurts a friend of his, he will damn well avenge them.**

**I guess I'm trying to show that there's more to them than their fathers. I get the feeling that for a while I was just making them mini-clones of the country that was their parent and so am now trying for some actual character development. **

**So basically so far, Naruto has self-esteem issues, Gaara is more emotionally open and Han is terrified of Germany. **

**That's all for now and once again I am so sorry that it took me this long to update.**


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